Breaking the Fate's Chains - Strong World
by Zaralann
Summary: In the infinite amount of Alternative Worlds with only minor differences Monkey D. Luffy ate 'Gomu Gomu no Mi', and set sail to become the Pirate King. But what if one small change broke this routine? What if Luffy's future became different? What if he broke the Fate's Chains? Will he fail? Will he die? As if! Because such is Youth!
1. Ch1: The Journey Begins!

**This particular idea was was born when I read the description of Akuma no Mi's re-spawning. You will see it yourself later.**

**I don't own One Piece, it belongs to Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

**Chapter 001: The J****ourney ****Begins!**

* * *

_In the infinite amount of Alternative Universes Monkey D. Luffy ate _**_Gomu Gomu no Mi_**_._

_Most of this Universes are are very similar with only minor differences, that wouldn't even be noticed without looking _really_ hard. Later in his life he assembled a crew that would sail through the world with him._

_But what if something changed?_

_What if there was a different set of circumstances?_

_What if one little change created a chaos so great that even Gods wouldn't know the outcome?_

_What if several people broke their Chains of Destiny and became the Wild Cards for any Higher Being?_

_Would people be able to fulfill they Destinies?_

_Would the world fall into the Darkness, or would it bask in the Light?_

_Who knows?_

_But one thing is absolutely certain, Monkey D. Luffy_ will_ become Legend in his own right!_

_Because such is _Youth_!_

* * *

_Wealth, fame, power... Gold Rodger, the King of the Pirates obtained this and everything else the world had to offer. And his dying words drove countless souls to seas._

_"You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place! Now you just have to find it!"_

_These words lured men to the Grand Line in pursuit of dreams greater than they've ever dared to imagine! This is the time known as _'The Great Pirate Era'_!_

* * *

"Wow..." Muttered one of the sailor looking at the giant whirlpool swirling and pulling inside anyone who was stupid enough to get too close.

He colleague standing to the left of him silently agreed, the sight was really something.

In East Blue it was not an uncommon thing to see a cruise ship slowly sailing around, with any particular destination or course. As the safest, and in many eyes _weakest_, of the seas there was only a very slim chance of such a ship being attacked by pirates, and therefore any security on board was lacking at best. The only guards that were actually doing their work were the ones hired by the organizer of the event, the people that were working for the owner of the ship were only lazing around and taking sips from the flask with booze that they _liberated_ from the ship's kitchens.

The three-mast ship was fully stocked for the ongoing event, and therefore it wouldn't be docking anytime soon. It may have sounded good on the paper, but working on the ship that hosted some higher-class social gatherings was as much fun as it can appear at first. The only _fun_ on board was meant for the snobbish rich and very boring people that held such event in hight regard only because of the possibility to forge more _valuable_ bonds while drinking very expensive drinks for free.

And therefore anything that may bring even the smallest dose of entertainment into the lives of the crew was something that was always welcomed on board.

_*Thunk*_

"Huh?" The sailor who spoke earlier looked down and saw a sealed barrel floating in the water near the ship.

* * *

Light slow music was playing in the main ballroom of the ship.

"Please, don't be concerned." Captain reassured a young couple in front of him. "A whirlpool like that won't affect this ship."

Most people in the ballroom were standing and chatting happily, fully enjoying the pleasant atmosphere of the party. Many were drinking, but not enough to actually get intoxicated, simply desiring a little help in relaxing in the peaceful and friendly company. High society parties like this were one of the places where they could forget about business and simply enjoy the _fruits_ of their labor. Only small part of them came here with the intention of actually acquiring more riches through deals made purely on first impression, but that was pretty rare and in-between event.

In front of the big double-window stood a beautiful young lady, with should-length orange hair and light-brown eyes. She was wearing white dress and red pearl-shaped earrings. Her gaze was locked on the small island not far away from the ship.

"Miss." She heard someone's voice from behind her and turned around. "May I have the honor of this dance?" Asked a young man.

He had dark-green hair and black eyes, he was wearing light-cyan dress-shirt and pants, with black dance-shoes on his feet.

The girl only smiled back an accepted his outstretched hand.

* * *

"Alright!" Said one of the sailors, spinning a double-hook tied to a rope over his head. Taking aim he threw the hook at the floating barrel, but missed. "Aww, missed again!" It was far harder than it looked to hit the thing, considering that the ship wasn't actually standing still.

"Battered out!" Laughed his friend while standing hear and getting his own healthy dose of entertainment.

"What are you doing?" Called the man from the crow's nest. "You guys suck." Suddenly something caught his attention and he looked more closely in the direction of the island not far away.

"It's really heavy..." Said one of the sailors, while pulling the _finally_ caught barrel onto the deck.

"It's a wine barrel..." Added the other one. "Must have a lot."

"Lets keep it." Said his companion.

Both of them missed the pale face and horrified look of the guy that was in the crow's nest. From the side of the island a ship was slowly appearing.

A pink ship.

A pink ship with duck's head on its nose.

A pink ship with duck's head on its nose and a _black flag_!

A pink ship with duck's head on its nose and a _black flag_ that had _J__olly Rodger_ on it!

"Trouble to the starboard!" He screamed to the rest of the crew. "There's a pirate flag on top of the mast!" The pair that was dragging the barrel both had the shocked expressions. "A pirate ship!" They ran to warn the rest of the crew, the barren already forgotten and left on the deck. "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

But it was too late.

_*Boom*Boom*Boom*_

Three cannon fired at the same time, creating three explosion around the ship and making it shake.

* * *

In the ballroom there was no music anymore, only screams of fear and sound of people colliding with each other while trying to keep themselves standing, the shock-waves of the explosions were strong enough to shake the whole ship.

Suddenly the two crew members from earlier kicked the doors open.

"Captain!" The first one called.

"Pirates!" The second one stated.

"What?!" Barked the captain. Another explosion shook the ship. "Everyone, please calm down!" Captain's first priority was to prevent the unnecessary causalities and panic on board. "Please calm down!"

He wasn't very successful, considering that most of the guests ran towards the exit in blind panic and fear. Nobody payed any attention to the orange-haired girl from earlier that stood near the wall using for support and had a small smile on her face.

* * *

"Fire!" Commanded an unpleasant nasal female voice.

The cannon of the pirate ship fired again, one of the cannonballs hitting the rostrum of their target, shattering it into many pieces. The cannons didn't stop firing.

"Coby!" The same voices called.

"H... hai." The small body with short pink hair and wearing glasses answered.

He was pretty short, and wore only white shirt with blue trim, black pants and white sneakers with red soles. Oh, and he looked frighted and sheepish at the same time.

"Who's the most beautiful woman in this ocean?" Ask the voice.

"It's the captain of our ship of course, Alvida-sama" Answered the chore boy.

But he couldn't be further from the truth. Alvida, the woman who was in command of the pirate ship was far from even being called _tolerable_. She was severely overweighted, short for her own proportions, with long black greasy hair, red lipstick and freckles. She was wearing red shoes with golden buckets, white breeches, light pink flannel shirt tied up by a purple sash with blue coat over it. On her head was a white stetson with a big fluffy red feather. In her hand was a giant iron spiky mace, that any normal human wouldn't be able to even move.

But this woman wasn't normal by any means.

**WANTED  
Dead or Alive**

**"Iron Mace"  
ALVIDA**

** 5,000,000 ฿  
**

For any normal person in the East Blue this would be a terrifying sigh to behold, because of the peaceful lifestyle and and lack of any serious threats such a bounty could be considered pretty high in this part of the world.

"Well said." Agreed Alvida, putting her mace on the deck like a walking stick.

"Thank you very much!" Said Coby, still looking ready to piss himself, but somehow forcing out a sheepish smile.

"Alvida-sama, it has been a while, hasn't it?" Asked one of the thugs standing on the deck behind Coby.

"Indeed!" Her smirk widened. "Now pull alongside the ship!"

As soon as the ship was turned towards its target the front cannon fired, destroying the read mast of the commercial ship.

* * *

Because of the panic nobody noticed the same barrel that was pulled from the water not long ago rolling down the deck, falling down the stairs and down the corridor and finally bouncing off the half-opened door stopping near the other smaller barrels in the kitchen.

* * *

Also, nobody noticed a certain orange-haired girl running towards the exit, but when she opened the door and saw the pirate ship she instantly closed it back.

* * *

******Miss Love Duck**, Alvida's ship was almost _two-times_ smaller than the commercial ship, but even with its rather _girly_ appearance it was still very intimidating to the normal civilians because of the simple fact that it was a _pirate_ ship. And when it pulled board-to-board with the passenger ship it can be said that they were almost surely doomed.

The hooked ropes were thrown by the pirates, making several _bridges_ for the crew to enter the cruise vessel.

"Men!" Bellowed Alvida. "Show them the power of Alvida, the female iron club pirate!" For emphasis she swung said club in front of her.

Hearing the command the thugs, that were the main part of the crew charged forward, actually running on the ropes in a show of surprisingly good balance and coordination. Several even used their ropes as bungees by attaching them to the mast to swing on the other ship.

But not everyone was so eager to rob and pillage.

"Coby! What are you doing?" Asked Alvida.

The poor boy was holding a rope that was attached to one of the cruise vessel's masts, while shaking like a leaf on the wind.

"I... I'm not used to this..." He stuttered out.

"You dare talk back to me?" Asked Alvida with anger in her voice, while walking close to the boy.

"Please, anything but the iron club!" It was quite obvious that the poor boy was terrified.

"Then hurry up and get going!" Barked Alvida and actually _kicked_ him with enough force to send him flying right onto the other ship's deck, his short experience of flight was stopped by the wooden wall of the ships addition structure.

While he was rubbing his face to lessen the pain, he heard Alvida's scream that was coming from... _above_? Coby looked up and saw that the fat captain actually _jumped_ after him and now was falling down with her club raised high. Barely able to duck under the living projectile, young boy was able to escape the fate of a bloody pancake, while Alvida crushed right _through_ the construction and now was lying there in a pile of splinters and pieces of wood.

* * *

"We're not going to kill you..." Said one of the pirates, standing with his sword drawn in front the scared passengers. "But we're going to take everything of value." The not so small band of thugs were a pretty good motivation for the civilians to surrender their goods without a fight.

"Anyone who resists will be thrown into the ocean." Added Alvida stepping behind her men.

The malicious laughter that followed sent chills down the victims' spines.

And nobody notices the familiar orange-haired girl hiding behind the wall, and listening to everything that was being said. Removing her dress she showed that she had a _pirate_ outfit under it consisting of black bandanna, blue shirtб black wristlets, red sash, black pants, red shoes with red and white stripped socks.

* * *

"Hello?" Called Coby, fearfully peaking into the kitchen. Taking a good look around he stepped inside the room. "There's no one here, right..." It sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself rather than stating a fact. "Thank goodness..." Looking around he noticed a pretty big barrel that apparently crashed into several smaller ones. "That's a pretty big barrel."

* * *

The mysterious orange-haired girl used the same ropes that pirates utilized to get on the ship to get on the _pirate _ship. Landing quietly, she ran towards the door that presumably leaded to the treasury.

But before she could open it someone did it for her, a rather scrawny tanned man in a green vest and horned helmet walked out and noticed the girl's presence. She could only smile nervously at him.

"Whoa are you? I've never seen you before." The pirate said and tried to take a closer look.

_*Thunk*_

Only to receive a vicious blow to his groin from the intruder. With moan full of pain and despair he fell on the deck of the ship unconscious, the girl just smiled apologetically.

* * *

Coby wasn't a very strong person, actually he was rather weak and rolling a barrel bigger than himself was a pretty tough task for the young boy. Grunting with effort he moved the heavy thing towards the door. But before he could push his _load_ through it three members of Alvida's crew stopped him and entered the kitchen.

"Hey you coward! Are you hiding and doing nothing again?" Asked the most tough-looking one.

"Not at all! I was pushing this wine barrel..." Started stuttering Coby, but was interrupted.

"We'll help lighted your load." Chuckled the same pirate.

"We're thirsty." Added another.

"No way!" Coby could only gape at three suicidal pirates. He shouldn't have cared about them at all, considering that he was basically kidnapped and forced into _slavery_ by this people, but he was too much of a good guy inside, and even now didn't want to see them _dead_. "If Alvida-Sama finds out, you'll be killed." He tried to warn them.

"It'll be fine if you keep your mouth shut." Said the third pirate. "Right, Coby?"

_'It's their funerals, and I will be dead too both ways.'_ Thought the boy. _'Maybe they will let me drink a little to get at least moderately drunk, so death won't hurt as much as it should?'_

"Yeah, that's true..." He agreed uneasily.

"It's pretty heavy..." Muttered the first pirate, while putting the barrel upright.

"Can't wait!" Agreed the second one.

"Don't be so greedy." Said the first one, while cracking his knuckles. "I'm going to smash it open right now." He pulled his left fist back.

Just to be sure that he would do it with the first blow he pulled back a little more and tensed his muscles.

And then he punched.

_*Crack*Crack*Bonk*_

But it wasn't his fist the broke the top of the barrel, but _something_ from _within_ the barrel. The same _something_ delivered a devastating blow to the pirate's jaw and sent him flying towards the wall, actually breaking it and stopping only to actually became stuck half-way through.

The unknown _something_ was actually a teen no older than seventeen. He wore a yellow straw-hat with a red band on his head, from under which you could see raven-black short hair and black eyes with a small scar under his left one. Without even looking around the teen climbed out of the barrel, and looked around with a yawn. Now that he was fully out, Coby could see that he was wearing long black captain-coat over black suit and black suit-pants, he also noticed red dress shirt with a black slight loose tie under the suit and on his feet were flip-flops, which actually didn't spoil the image even a little for some reason.

The teen yawned again and stretched a little.

"What a nice nap." He said, and looked around only now noticing that everyone were staring at him with their jaws on the floor. He glanced at the pirate stuck in the wall. "What the?" He raised an eyebrow at the strange occurrence. The turned back to the two gaping pirates in front of him. "Who are you guys?"

His words actually snapped the two out of their stupor.

"Who the hell are you?!" Both screamed at him at the same time with shocked expressions.

"I don't think it's really that healthy to sleep like that." Said the teen while looking around and pointing at their unconscious comrade.

"It's you fault!" Both roared at him with angry expression on their faces.

Suddenly the teen had a sharp sword positioned near his throat. Both pirate pulled out their weapons and looked at him with a mixture of fear and anger, not actually knowing what to do in this type of situations. It's not very often that someone so openly defied them and didn't show even an ounce of fear after knocking out one their own comrades, the things like this just didn't happened in the East Blue!

"You bastard!" Said the third pirate, while holding the mentioned sword. "Stop screwing around. Don't you know we're pirates?!"

The teen simply ignored the two armed men, knowing that he would get anything useful from them, instead he turned toward the pink-haired kid that looked ready to fain from fear. Putting one the friendliest smile he could manage the teen slightly leaned forward.

"Sorry if I bother you, but I'm pretty hungry." His tone was friendly and cheerful. "Can you point me towards..."

"Listen to what I'm saying!" Roared the third pirate with shocked expression on his face.

_Who_ was this teen anyway?

"You brat!" Growled the second one, as they both raised their swords to strike him down.

Coby saw the blades coming and close his eyes, preparing himself to hear the poor boy being screwed by the two pirates, he ever raised his hand to shield himself from the blood that would surely be spilled.

The teen himself turned his head slightly to see the pirates that jumped at him, with the intent to gut him open. The shadow casted by the brim his hat covered his eyes for a moment.

_*Clank*Clank*Thud*Thud*_

When Coby finally removed his hands from his eyes, and looked at the teen, he saw that the yet unnamed individual was standing with his back turned towards Coby, facing the two pirates, who were crouching on the floor with their swords broken in two. The broken off parts were actually sticking out of the ceiling, _how _did _that_ happen Coby didn't know.

"What are you doing all of a sudden?" Asked the teen, raising his head a little and letting them see his eyes again, and also his disappointed expression. He put his hands in his pants' pockets. "Gramps was right, no manners at all." He muttered.

"W... who are you?" The third prate forced out, while still shaking.

"Me?" The teen smirked. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy." He grinned. "Nice to meet you!"

Both pirates just stared at him. Then they screamed in fear, grabbed their fallen comrade, and in show fear-fueled strength yanked him out from the wall, and then the two ran from the kitchen screaming while dragging their companion on the floor like a sack of potatoes. The boy, Luffy, just blinked at their sudden departure.

"What... what just happened?" Asked Coby, still on all four on the floor, and looking at the sense with stunned face.

"What's with them?" Muttered Luffy.

It's not like he was going to beat them up, only if they attacked him...

_'Weird people.'_ He shrugged, wasn't his business.

"Hurry up and run!" Coby said to him, finally pulling himself up, but now now with a panicked expression on his face. Luffy only turned his head a little to look at the fearful boy. "When they come back with their friends, you'll be killed!"

"Even so, I'm hungry." Said Luffy with s sheepish smile.

"How can you that so calmly?!" Gaped Coby, but Luffy ignored him and started actually _sniffing_ the air. "There's lots of pirate on the deck!" Tried to warn him Coby, but was ignored as Luffy moved towards the door from where he could smell food. "Don't go that way." Coby tried to stop the teen by pulling his arm, but didn't even mange to slow him down. "Wait! You're going the wrong way!" Grunted Coby.

Luffy just ignored his pleas and opened a big double door, from where the delicious smell was coming. Seeing a storage room full of crates with food he grinned.

"I knew there was food somewhere here." He knew that he woke up in the kitchen, but could only see some small scraps and pieces around, nothing even _close_ to an actual meal.

So he followed the smell of fresh food that led him here, into this room. Ignoring the kid's muttering about being safe and hoping to not be found he opened the first box that he saw, and wasn't disappointed. It was full of fresh apples, Gramps always said that anything that can sate your hunger was food so wasting was akin of a crime.

_'He also enforced this rule but leaving me in the jungles to fend for myself with no food or water.'_ Shuddered Luffy. Without any more distractions Luffy grabbed the first apple and almost finished it whole on the first bite.

"I'm Coby, and you're Luffy-san, right?" Luffy finished four apples when he heard the kid's voice. "That was amazing back there. How'd you do that?"

"These are good." Said Luffy, not really paying attention to boy's question. "Is this a pirate ship?" He asked.

"No... this ship isn't." Answered Coby, sitting down behind Luffy. "This ship is being attacked by Alvida-sama right now."

_'Alvida?'_ Thought Luffy, while trying to remember if he saw a wanted poster with this name. Makino, the bartender in the **Partys Bar**, in Luffy's home village. She actually forced him to read all the wanted posters that came about, so he could at least have the basic knowledge about the dangers in the East Blue. She was like an older sister to him, and for a simple civilian was actually pretty good at planning things through. Finally Luffy remembered the Poster with this particular individual. _'5,000,000฿? Not much, so I shouldn't have any trouble.'_

"Mmm...? It doesn't really matter." Answered Luffy honestly. "Are there any boats on this ship?"

"There should be, but..." Muttered Coby.

"My ship got sucked into the whirlpool." Admitted Luffy.

It was a bit of a rookie-mistake on Luffy's part, he fell asleep and woke up only when it was too late. Good thing he got a barrel that he emptied not long ago, or he would have been a goner.

"Eh, that whirlpool? You should be dead." Muttered Coby.

"Nah, I would have figured something out." Said Luffy, while finishing off another apple. "Say, are you a pirate as well?"

Luffy actually felt a tad bit guilty for asking, because Coby's face right now was like someone killed his favorite pet right in front of him.

"That was... a fateful day." He started in a said voice. "That day, I went aboard, intending to go fishing..." He was was almost haunted. "But it turned out that boat was going to a pirate ship!" He was almost crying. "For the past two years, I've been working like a slave so they wouldn't kill me."

Luffy looked at the boy, with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Tough luck, kid." He finally said. "It's a pretty stupid way to get onto a pirate ship."

"How can you say that?" Coby's head fell even lower.

"Why not to just run away?" Asked Luffy.

"That's impossible! Impossible, impossible!" Coby shook his head in denial. "When I think about Alvida-sama finding out, my legs shake and I get really scared..."

"Oh, so you're a coward." Luffy actually didn't mean it as an insult, he just wanted to get the boy angry to snap him out his melancholy. "I don't like you." He grinned.

It didn't work because Coby just started shedding tears with a pitiful expression on his face.

* * *

"Get moving!" Barked Alvida. "Move everything before the Marines get here!" She was standing on the deck and giving orders, while her crew was dragging chests full of treasures onto her ship. "Anyone who slacks off will meet my iron club!"

With a motivation like this the crew doubled they efforts, making sure not to accidentally drop anything. Being slow was survivable, loosing part of their loot wasn't.

"Hurry up!" One voice called.

"Look at all the treasure!" Another one added.

Nobody noticed the already familiar orange-haired girl that was emptying the chests, leaving all the junk and putting all the treasures inside one big bag. Well, she wasn't noticed because she was _under_ the deck and out of sight, therefore she could safely take everything that these pirates had before pillaging the ship she was before.

"Hey, if you daydream, you're going to get the iron club!" Added another one.

"That'd be bad." The firs one agreed.

The girl looked around at the empty treasurer-chests and her bag full of gold, money, diamonds and other valuables.

"There's no way I can stand a blow from that."

Suddenly the two pirate from earlier tried to get out from the manhole on the civilian ship, but got stuck.

"Alvida-sama!" But it didn't stop them from shouting. "There's a problem."

"What is it?" Alvida asked, turning around. "You're so noisy."

"The barrel was..." One started.

"A monster!" The other one finished.

It's wasn't a smart move one their part, considering that Alvida had a very short temper, and heard only the second half of their statement.

"Who's a monster?" She growled out, and threw her iron club at the two underlings.

They were fast enough to lean forward, so it wouldn't tear they head off, but by doing that they pulled their third comrade up, making him receive a solid blow in the face from the club. The blow itself was strong enough to send the guy flying backwards, breaking the railing on the way and disappearing from sight. The club spun in the air and landed on the heads of the two pirates.

"That's not it... a weird person came out of the barrel..." Muttered the first one.

"He might be a bounty hunter." Added the second one.

It was a pure miracle that they weren't unconscious from the blow, and even talk.

"What?" Growled Alvida.

* * *

"You're right." Muttered Coby "Completely right... If only I was brave enough to drift in the ocean in a barrel, the would what I wanted to do..." He raised his head and looked at Luffy, who looked back with passive expression on his face. "Luffy-san, what _were_ you doing drifting in the ocean in a barrel?"

Luffy looked at him and smiled.

"I'm going to be the **Pirate King**!" He proclaimed with an absolutely serious tone, making sure to put emphasis on the title.

"P..." Coby's jaw was hanging dangerously low. "P..." His eyes were wide and skin getting whiter with each passing moment. "Pirate King?" He finally managed to forced out.

"Yeah." Luffy didn't even blinked at the kid's baffled expression.

"Seriously?" Asked Coby while sweating bullets.

"Seriously." Agreed the coat wearing teen.

"That means Luffy-san is a pirate?" The pink-haired kid was on the verge of breaking down.

"Right." Confirmed Luffy.

"Your crew?"

"Don't have any, looking for one now." This apparently was the last straw because Coby just stopped moving, maybe even breathing.

_'Wow, I think I broke him.'_ Thought Luffy, as he waved his hand in front of Coby's face. Suddenly the kid stood up, apparently overcoming his shock.

"A Pirate King is someone who has everything in this world!" Proclaimed Coby. "Wealth, Fame, Power, all united within one person." His shocked expression was still there, but with a mix of disbelief now. "Meaning, you are going after **One Piece**."

"Ah." Luffy could help but smile, the kid was actually pretty funny.

"_'Ah'_ you say?!" Coby was on a verge of another breakdown. "All the pirate in the world are going after that treasure!"

"I am too!" Luffy's cheeky grin wasn't reassuring the poor kid.

"Impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, absolutely impossible!" Coby shook his head in denial. "It would be impossible to stand on top in this Great Pirate Era! It can't be done, impossible impossible!"

_'Oy, oy! Why so negative?'_ Thought Luffy as he stood up. He decided that it was enough for the kid, and he really needed to snap him out of this meltdown before he would start crying... _again_. One good hit on the head did the trick. _'Now I understand why Gramps likes to do it so much, it's so easy!'_

"Why did you hit me?" Moaned Coby, crouched on the floor and holding the back of his head.

"Just because." Answered Luffy.

"It's fine, I'm used to it anyway." Cody said with a mirthless laugh.

"It's not if it's possible or not." Said Luffy as he put his right hand on top of his hat. "I'm doing it because I want to." He removed the straw-hat from his head and looked at it. "I decided to become the Pirate King. I don't care if I die fighting for it." He said in a voice full of nostalgia. Luffy didn't noticed the stunned look on Coby's face, and put his hat back onto its rightful place. Then he started walking towards the exit. "Well, now that I'm full, all i need to get is a boat. I can probably borrow one from the pirates..." He said, while cracking his knuckles.

It's not like they will let him go without a fight, Luffy wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but even he wasn't clueless about what they would, considering that he knocked one of their people out, even if unintentionally, broke two swords and scared the owners to the point of them running away while screaming.

"I've never though of that." Luffy heard Coby and stopped. "Can I do that too? Not afraid to die?"

"Mmm?" Luffy hummed, watching as the kid talked to himself... or the floor, it was kind of hard to figure out.

"Maybe I can join the Marines?"

"Marines?" Asked Luffy.

"That's right!" Said Coby as he stood up with fire in his eyes. "It's my dream to catch bad guys!" Tears were still in his eyes, but the spark of determination was burning them away. "It's been my dream ever since my childhood. Can I do it?" The last part was apparently addressed to Luffy.

_'Damn, Gramps would have a field day with this one.'_ Thought Luffy as he remembered all that talks that Garp had with him about Luffy joining the Marines and becoming Garp's legacy.

"How would I know?" Asked Luffy. _'Maybe I should send him to Gramps? He will quickly whip the kid into shape.'_

"No, I _will_ do it!" Coby was apparently on the roll here. "I'm going to get out of here and stop working as a slave for Alvida-sama! No , I will catch Alvida!"

_*Crash*_

Coby rant was interrupted by the wall and big part of the ceiling being smashed to pieces that rained down on the floor, making the kid scramble away in fear and Luffy to turn towards the attacker, that was now hidden by the cloud of dust.

"Making a friend like this..." Said a very unpleasant voice. "Who are you going to catch... Eh, Coby!" The kid was shaking in the corner, absolutely terrified of the new arrival. The dust finally settled down and Luffy saw the intruder, it was the big fat round hag with a big iron spiky club. He was about to ask who the hell was she, but several swords stuck through wall around his head. "You're not the Pirate Hunter Zoro, apparently the rumors were right, he's gone."

"Zoro?" Luffy raise an eyebrow, the name sounded familiar somewhat.

"Coby!" Barked the hag, making the boy almost jump out of his skin. "Who's the most beautiful woman in this ocean?" She asked.

_'What with the question?'_ Thought Luffy. He wasn't really familiar with the concept of woman's beauty, but even being the dense and simple guy he was, the teen could see that the thing in front of him was far from beautiful.

"This is of course..." Started saying Coby.

"Who's this fat hag?" Asked Luffy, interrupting Coby and making everyone's in the hearing range drop their jaws on the floor.

_'I'm pretty sure that this is Alvida, but I can be mistaking, it was years since I saw that Wanted Poster.'_ He may have been educated by Makino about the proper etiquette, as much as she tried at least, but nothing could cure his bluntness and dense attitude, apparently it was inheritable but the way how Garp behaved all the time.

"Fat? Now he's done it..." Muttered on of the pirates that were standing around th hole in the celling.

Several tick-marks appeared on Alvida's face.

"Brat!" She roared and swung her mace at him.

Luffy easily jumped up, evading the heavy weapon that teared the floor where he was standing a moment ago to shreds. He then landed in front of Coby, and grabbed his wrist.

"Let's go!" He said and jumped up, easily covering the distance between the ceiling and through the newly made hole, landing on the main deck and releasing the kid.

The pirates that were one the deck stared at him in shock.

_'And now, the fun part.'_ He thought.

"You." Growled one the pirates and tried to cut Luffy with his sword.

Luffy just leaned back slightly, fully avoiding the attack and delivered a powerful blow to the enemy's temple, making him crush into the deck unconscious. Another one tried to slash Luffy from the left, but the teen simply sidestepped the attack and punched the thug in the face, hard, launching backwards with enough force to crack a wooden wall.

Four more guys jumped at him.

Luffy simply jumped up and avoided the attacks fully. When he landed a smirk was on his face, this was far too easy for him, considering the hellish training he went through this wasn't even a proper warm-up. He heard someone screaming behind him and lashed out with his right hand, grabbing the guy's face.

"It's not very polite to attack from the back!" He said and threw his at the four pirates that tried to kill him earlier.

The force of the throw was enough to make the four skid backwards and break through the railings, falling into the water. Without even looking backwards, he jumped up, avoiding another attack from the back by the group of pirates. He landed not far away in front of them, still smiling without a care in the world.

"Well, that is actually interesting!" He pulled his right hand back and suddenly it changed.

It became red with the shades of yellow and black, it was glowing slightly and smoke started coming from his shoulder. The arm looked like it was made from... _magma_? Then he punched forward, launching a fist shaped projectile made entirely out of magma at the group of pirates. it impacted the floor right in front of them, creating a fierce explosion of fire and molten rock, heavily burning the thugs, but not actually killing any of them.

Coby and Alvida, who finished climbing out of the hole, were gaping at the sense in front of them. Luffy just transformed his arm back to normal and started walking towards Coby, there wasn't even a scratch on him.

"Luffy-san, _what_ are you?" Muttered Coby, stumbling slightly towards the teen, and trying to not step on the fire that Luffy's last attack started.

"Me?" Luffy smiled. "I'm a magma man." The answer left Coby stunned.

"Magma man... That..." Muttered the kid, before noticing that Alvida was actually standing right behind him, with all the shocks going around she was able to get closer unnoticed.

Coby instantly scrambled behind Luffy, making sure to position himself so the seemingly invincible teen was between him and Alvida.

"You ate the **Akuma no Mi**, right?" She asked with an unreadable expression.

"Yeah, I ate **Magu Magu no Mi**." Confirmed Luffy.

"Is that so." Said Alvida, trying to remember what she knew about **Akuma no Mi**, because some of them were insanely dangerous. "I've heard rumors about it, but I never thought it really existed. You also have some moves..." She sneered at him. "Are you a bounty hunter?"

"I'm a pirate." Said Luffy and looked at the rest of Alvida's crew that was standing on the deck of her ship.

"Pirate? Just you?" Alvida actually was surprised.

"It's just me right now, but I'll find the crew eventually." Said Luffy in the serious tone. "Don't know how many, but I'll be sure to make the best crew there is." Confidence in his voice was astonishing.

Their talk worked as pretty good distraction the let the orange-haired thief to sneak away without being noticed, while carrying a very big bag with stolen treasures.

"I see, so you're a pirate." She smirked. If her memory served her right, the ability to shoot something was in the rage of **Paramecia**-type **Akuma no Mi**, and therefore he was still vulnerable to the physical attacks. Judging by the name, he gained the ability to shoot projectiles made of magma, but it wouldn't protect him from the hit in the head that would crush his skull. "That makes us enemies, doesn't it?" If she will strike first, she would win pretty easily.

"Lu... Luffy-san, run." Whispered Coby to the teen.

"Why?" Asked Luffy. _'It's not like she can hurt me, I'm ******Logia**, physical attack simply won't affect me.'_

"You saw the power of that iron club, didn't you?" Mumbled Coby. "This person is the stron..." But he stopped talking by the stare that Luffy was giving him, the teen clearly wasn't impressed with the kid's lack of guts at the moment.

* * *

_"I decided to become the Pirate King. I don't care if I die fighting for it."_

* * *

Luffy's earlier words rang through Coby's mind.

"_'This person is the' _what Coby?" Asked Alvida.

"The... the..." Luffy smirked, seeing the earlier fire returning to the kid's eyes. "The ugliest stinking old hag!" He finally said.

Everyone's jaw dropped, Alvida was producing strange hissing noises, while Luffy was laughing.

"What did you say?" Alvida finally was able to get out, actually growling the last word.

"I will join the Marines! Join and fight pirate like you!" Coby wasn't going to stop, he finally got enough courage to say everything that was on his heart.

"Do you even know what you are saying?!" Asked Alvida.

"I know!" The kid had guts, and just know showed just how much of them. "I'll... I'll do what I want! Join the Marines and... join the Marines and..." He took a deep breath. "Capture you!"

"Little brat!" Roared Alvida and swung her club at him.

_'No regrets! No regrets!'_ Coby was repeating in his head. _'I said it! I fought for my dream!'_

But before the mace came even close to the kid's head it was stopped by Luffy, who was holding it back without any effort with only his left hand.

Things that Luffy wasn't lacking was his physical strength and speed. Many users of the **Logia**-type **Akuma no Mi** decided that they are invincible simply because no normal physical attack could harm them, Garp showed Luffy just how wrong these people were, but easily punching Luffy's lights out simply ignoring the rule about **Logia**-types. The teen still couldn't figure out how did Gramps do it, because there wasn't any water nearby or **Kairōseki** on the old fart's hands.

The mace in Luffy's hand started to heat and, becoming bright red and melting down in a pile of slag in front of Luffy. Alvida was fast enough to let go of her weapon, before her hand would have been burned off. She could see that Luffy's palm was made out of hot magma.

"Buy, buy!" Said Luffy as he suddenly appeared before in front of Alvida in a burst of speed, and delivered a powerful blow with his right fist in her stomach.

Her stomach actually _imploded_ from the impact, and then she was sent flying while screaming her head of from pain.

* * *

The pirate that was earlier launched from the ship by Alvida's mace was floating in the water belly-up.

"The sky is so blue..." He muttered, barely regaining conscious.

Suddenly a huge shadow fell upon him.

_*Boom*_

Alvida's collision with the sea created a huge column of water, even bigger than from cannonball's explosion.

* * *

Everyone was staring at the impossible sight, some unknown teen just sent Alvida flying with _one punch_! Pirates were actually scared for their lives right now.

"Hey!" Luffy called them out.

"Yes!" Even under Alvida they didn't show such a level of synchrony.

"Give Coby a boat." Said Luffy in a serious tone. "He's going to join the Marines. Let him go." There wasn't any room for arguments here.

"Yes, yes!" The pirates agreed instantly.

"Luffy-san..." Coby could even describe how thankful he was to the teen.

_*Whiiiiiieeeeeu*_

_*Bdush*_

___*Bdush*_

_*Bdush*_

The sound of cannonballs exploding around the ship interrupted the moment. Luffy was able to hold himself upright, Coby on the other hand used the railing for support.

"That's the..." Muttered Luffy, looking at the three big ships not far away. "Marines!" Luffy smiled. "Isn't that great? Why don't you go?" Coby looked at Luffy in shock. "I'm a pirate, time to run!" And with that Luffy jumped over the railings.

"How can I..." Asked Coby hysterically. "They'd arrest me before I could join!"

* * *

The already familiar orange-haired girl still in her pirate disguise was checking her loot, while sitting on the stolen boat. Suddenly another boat landed near her, she saw a small scrawny kid with pink hair and glasses on it.

Suddenly someone else landed on the second boat. It was a teen maybe a year younger than her, but it was hard to tell. He had spiky black hair that was sticking out from under the straw-hat on his head, black eyes, with s small scar under the left one and slightly round face. He was wearing black captain-coat, with golden buttons, black suit with red dress-shirt and black tie under it, black suit-pants and flip-flops on his feet. if she was right, he was actually pretty taller, taller than her at least.

She actually blushed a little.

Then an explosion from cannonball created a wall of water between them, but not before their eyes met.

* * *

"We got away somehow..." Muttered Coby, while looking around for any more ships.

The small boat with only one sail was going at a pretty decent speed, Luffy was sitting and smiling.

"That was fun!" He laughed.

"Um, Luffy-san." Called Coby, and continued when the teen looked at him. "If **One Piece** is you goal, the means you are heading toward the Grand Line, right?" Luffy nodded. "It's also called the '_Graveyard of Pirates_'."

"Yeah, that's why I need a strong crew." Confirmed the teen. "Alvida mentioned that guy, Zoro, I've heard that name before but can't quite place it." Luffy scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, he was a pretty famous bounty hunter in East Blue, people said that he was very strong." Explained Coby.

"_'Was'_?" Asked Luffy.

"Not long ago he was executed on the island not far from here." Coby lowered his head a little. "I don't know all the details, but apparently Marines captured him and the Captain of the base where he was held decided to execute him."

"Hmm, so he was weak?" Asked Luffy.

"No!" Coby actually raised his voice. "He was a terrifying beast!"

"You said that it wasn't far away, right?" Asked Luffy.

"Yes, actually it's the nearest island right now." Confirmed the kid.

"Well, let head that way so you can join the Marines, and I would probably be able to get some more food for a longer journey." Said Luffy.

* * *

Under the almost unbearable heat of the sun, tied to a wooden crucifix in the center of a dry dusty courtyard was a very young woman. Her face was downcast, her eyes shadowed with her chin-length dark blue hair. On her head were rectangular red spectacles. She was wearing red short-sleeved shirt with pink dots with blue leather coat with a furred collar and edge linings over it. She also wore blue jeans, black shoes and grey gloves.

If someone would look closely, they would've noticed dried down lines made by tears on her face.

* * *

**I know what you people will say. Yes, I know that the Chapter was _very_ close to canon, but it's intentional so you can see the minor changes in the world that would soon grow and change the whole plot. The further the story would be, the more changes and unexpected plot-twists you will find. Just please be patient and give the whole idea a chance.  
**

**Also, I know that Logia-Luffy stories almost always pictures him with already created crew, but I'm doing ti differently, and I really think that I got something here.**

**As always, I'm open to any question, suggestions and criticism! Just leave them in your Review!**


	2. Ch2: The Empty Blade

**Well, first chapter is behind and not is' time for the second one!**

**I don't own One Piece, it belongs to Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

**templememple: Можно сказать и так.**

**WaMiLoe: Thank you, and don't worry, Kuro isn't going to join the crew.  
**

**DonWar: Thank you, and I will try to find one!  
**

**Guest: The point of this story is in being different. I'm not sure what did you mean by '_to much of one of the main charcters to have died_', Luffy didn't meet him at any point in the canon before the Episode 2(Anime), so he was tied to the original plot of the canon as much as any other future-canon-crewmate, in no way. He's dead, that is all. I won't tell you any Spoilers about future crew or its members.  
**

**serpentguy: No, Luffy won't simply defeat all of his old enemies, a couple the most worthless ones, yes, but the title 'Strong World' should have have give you a hint that world isn't like it was in Canon, so read and see!**

**montana15: Yes, he's dead, and not it's not her.**

**Lightningblade49: Well, being unpredictable is a needed trait in this business.**

**NAFNAF509: Thank you, and don't worry, I won't disappoint any of you!**

**Thorndsword: Oh, you don't need to worry about it!**

**OnePieceFan2: 1) Thank you! 2) Big changes are needed so the plot can move forward without any strings attached. 3) Well, did you guess right? 4) Here you go!**

**R .D. T: Thank you!**

* * *

**Chapter 002: The Empty Blade**

* * *

_Wealth, fame, power... Gold Rodger, the King of the Pirates obtained this and everything else the world had to offer. And his dying words drove countless souls to seas._

_"You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place! Now you just have to find it!"_

_These words lured men to the Grand Line in pursuit of dreams greater than they've ever dared to imagine! This is the time known as _'The Great Pirate Era'_!_

* * *

Luffy was sitting and leaning against the mast of the small boat that he and Coby were traveling on. His hat was tilted forward a little to protect him from the bright sun, but even then he could fill its warm ray falling upon them. The calls of seagulls and the sound of the sea were really calming for the young pirate.

"Such a nice weather." He grinned.

It was a perfect day for sailing, even the wind was favorable for the course.

"We'll reach the island with a Marine base if we stay on the course." Agreed Coby.

"Er... Coby, you're amazing!" Laughed Luffy.

"It's nothing, it's the most basic skill of any sailor." Answered Coby. "I actually wanted to ask you, Luffy-san."

"Mmm, what?" Luffy lifted his hat a little so he could look at the timid boy.

"Earlier you were interested in Zoro, I wanted to know why?" Coby looked at Luffy, who grinned.

"I was actually more interested in his reputation." Answered Luffy. "You see, when I was younger and trained very hard I took a habit of facing challenges that would push me to my limit and beyond. It's one of the ways to train and surpass yourself... Well, it's what Gramps told me actually, and considering I couldn't even lay a finger on him, not even once..." Luffy chuckled. "I was actually hoping to see just how strong this guy was."

"So, you wanted to challenge him to a fight?" Asked Coby with wide eyes.

"Not really, fighting him would have been stupid." Luffy's face became serious. "I heard about him several times, and I'm really surprised that he actually got arrested."

"I heard that he was like a beast hungering for blood. He lived only for the bounty." Coby said with in a fearful tone. "He was a demon in a human body."

"Well, we may never find out if that was true or not." Said Luffy.

* * *

"We're here." Said Luffy jumping from the boat and onto the pier. "The town where the Marines are!"

The town itself was full of life, shops were open and selling goods, people were chatting with each other on the street, and like a mountain above them all stood the Marines' base. The base actually looked not very impressive, just two giant upside-down buckets painted in Marine's colors, one noticeably bigger than the other.

Luffy walked towards the base, while looking around, his attire attract some attention, but one a passing glances and nothing more. Coby was walking behind him and taking in the surroundings, being stuck with a pirate crew for almost two years made him feel almost relaxed back in the normal surroundings. _Almost_ being the keyword.

The small boy was still pretty nervous about joining the Marines, considering that he had not prior training whatsoever. It wasn't really that bad now, that he actually overcame one of his fears, and gained a small amount of courage, but he still wasn't at ease.

"Luffy-san, i don't think it's a very good idea for you to just walk up to the _Marine's_ base like that." Said Coby. "You know, considering that you're... _well_..."

"Oh, don't worry about it, it's not like I will try to break in or something." Said the teen walking in front of him, with arms behind his head.

He walked up to a stand that sold pears and took one. After taking a solid bite from it and chewing he swallowed the treat and flicked two coins from his pocket to the merchant, and took another pear. Giving the spare one to Coby the continued walking towards the base, while chewing on the fruit.

"Luffy-san, I heard that the local base was under the command of Captain Morgan..." Started saying Coby after finishing his pear, but the moment the Captain's name was called all the people on the street jumped, as if someone screamed murder.

The crowd's fearful looks were all directed at the duo. Luffy looked around without stopping, the whole this reminded him about the time when he visited the Gray Terminal and saw how people reacted to the names of the Nobles from Goa Kingdom. This wasn't just fear that he saw, but something much worse, the lack of hope. Luffy wasn't a thinking-type of a person, he preferred to solve his problems with fists and magma, but even _he_ could understand what was happening here.

"Coby, lest go to the base." Said Luffy, snapping the young boy out of his stupor. "You wanted to join the Marines, right?"

"Yes..." Said Coby, after he caught up with Luffy. "But I'm not ready yet." He then looked around, and lowered his voice so no-one but Luffy heard him, no need to cause another incident like earlier. "I heard that Captain Morgan, that is in-charge of this base is a very strict with his subordinates, I don't all the facts, but apparently no one ever disobeys him."

"I'm not entirely sure, but the earlier display gave me an idea just _why_ no one disobeyed him so far." Said Luffy, looking straight ahead with a frown. "And I really don't like it so far..."

"I can understand if they would have reacted like that to a name of some famous criminal, but why would they be afraid of the Captain?" Coby had a mixture of confusion and distress on his face. "This really worries me..."

"I once saw something similar, and it didn't end-up on a good note." Muttered Luffy under his breath.

Coby was going to ask what the teen meant, but at that moment they reached the gates of the Marine's base.

"Finally..." Mumbled Coby in awe, the question he had in mind already forgotten. "I'm finally here!" Coby even teared up a little. "This is where we part, Luffy-san, even though it's only been a short..." He said, while wiping his tears with the back of his hand, but stopped when he noticed that his companion wasn't standing near him, but instead was standing on the base's wall. "Ah, Luffy-san! What are you doing?" Coby waved his hand, trying to get the young **Logia**'s attention. _'And how did he get there so fast?'_

"Just want to look around." Answered the teen. "And I don't like what I'm seeing." He added in a serous tone.

"What, what do you see?" Asked Coby, who approached the piece of the wall on which Luffy was standing.

"I see someone being used as an example." Answered Luffy, and started walking to the left, while somehow keeping perfect balance. "Get up here and look for yourself." He added and stopped.

"Who could that be..." Muttered Coby, as he climbed the wall, the action being quite an achievement considering his small height and low-than-civilian's physical condition.

"There she is." Luffy pointed at the lone figure tied to a wooden crucifix.

He tried to get a good look at the person, it was a very young woman. Her face was downcast, her eyes shadowed with her chin-length dark blue hair. On her head were rectangular red spectacles. She was wearing red short-sleeved shirt with pink dots with blue leather coat with a furred collar and edge linings over it. She also wore blue jeans, black shoes and grey gloves.

The ropes, that were holding her, didn't look very tough, Luffy was sure that he could've freed himself easily even without the power of his **Akuma no Mi**. He was sure that she could do it too, if she actually wanted to, and that actually brought up a question, why _didn't_ she escaped already?

* * *

How much time has passed? About three weeks, give or take a couple of days.

It's really hard to tell when your stomach tries to constantly digest itself from the lack of food and water. Hour feels like eternity, and that's if you're conscious. Starvation, something you wish you would never experience twice.

_'Why did it happened to me?'_ She thought. _'Is this what they call _Justice_?'_

* * *

_She was sitting in a small tavern and eating her late breakfast. She arrived in Shell Town yesterday and was too tire to actually do anything, simply collapsed on the bed in the room she rented for the night._

'I really hope they would let me take it, it's not like they actually _need_ it.' _She thought while chewing on her steak._

_She was actually very optimistic about this particular visit. Several days ago Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro was executed in this town's Marine base, she saw the picture in the newspaper. But she also noticed just _what_ was in Roronoa's possession. She looked at the picture she cut out from the newspaper._

_The sword had a pure-white hilt with a circular hand-guard. The sheath was painted white and the type of the blade was_ suguha_ or 'straight blade'._

_**Wadō Ichimonji**, one of the legendary ****__Ō__ **Wazamono**, there is only twenty one of them in the world and some bounty hunter actually had one of this treasures the whole time! She really could understand how could such a beautiful blade be used by some evil person like that Zoro. His reputation was something she was familiar with, while traveling towards this island she searched any information she could find about him, and wasn't really impressed._

___Living simple for a bounty? What kind of a swordsman _was_ he? Her Sensei always taught her that a person who draws his sword without a reason is nothing more than a glorified thug with a stick made of metal._

"What is your reason to fight?"

"Why do you want to become strong?"

"_Why_ do you need that sword?_"_

_His words still rand in her ears, and the empty filling in her chest made if painfully obvious that she still didn't find that reason. She trained day and night, she grew in skill and strength, but she still felt empty inside, no matter what she did. Fighting without a goal had no meaning, no matter how good she was she still lost in the end because she didn't know what to do with victory._

_But she didn't give up._

_She found herself a reason to move forward._

_Swords._

_Beautiful blades that were in the hands of evil people, the blades whose cries she could hear. She wanted to save them, to collect them so no one would use them for dark purposes. She glanced at her own blade, that was resting near her against the bar counter._

_**Shigure**, one of the __**Wazamono** and her trusted partner. A normal katana with a green handle and a guard with a four-petaled design. The blade itself is normal. The sheath is elaborate, with the first half being green and bumpy designed; the second half is white and smooth. There are circular designs embedded on the entire sheathe. She had this blade for years, and considered it her friend, no matter how crazy it sounded or how people would laugh at her if they heard that she considered a non-sentient object a _friend_.__  
_

_But even after all her travels, she wasn't able to obtain even _one_ of the Legendary Blades. Until today, and she would be damned if she will let the opportunity pass!_

_So why was she still feeling empty inside, even when she was so close to moving forward towards her goal? Maybe, just maybe it was only a temporal substitute for a real thing? Maybe she still didn't find it?  
_

_She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of animal's growling breaking glass. Several people around her gasped, and moved away from the tavern's entrance. From the corner of her right eye she saw a big brown wolf, that entered through the door and was now chewing on someone's else food. The visitors of the tavern were to scared to actually do anything and just watched in horror as the best just roamed free inside the building.  
_

'Who let this thing roam free?' _She thought surprised._

_Suddenly a small girl with brown hair tried to make it stop._

_There is a simple truth, that in the hands of a master, even a rusty spoon can be a deadly weapon, and in the hands of an amateur even the best sword won't be deadlier than a twig. A girl no older than eight with a broom for a weapon against a hungry fully grown wolf won't stand a chance._

_"No! Stop it!" The girl's_ assault _didn't go unnoticed, even if she didn't deliver even a single blow yet._

_"Hey you." Said an annoyingly arrogant voice. The man wore violet colored uniforms with light-red collar and cuffs with white shoes and a rubber band ring on his left hand. He was a skinny and lanky-looking young man with light blond hair shaped like an oval on top of his head. She was never a person who would judge others on their appearance alone, but the expression of superiority on his face made her shudder in disgust. "Do you have a problem with my pet?"_

_"Rika, stop it." Called the woman from behind the counter. She had brown hair that was tied back. She wore a light green dress over a dark green shirt. "You're going to get in trouble."_

_While this was happening, the blond owner of the wolf was laughing at the girl's attempts to actually protect the costumers and the tavern itself. But what actually drew her eyes to him was the weapon in his hand, it was __**Wadō Ichimonji**_. Man's posture, body language and even poor physical development spoke about his lack of any training in the art of a sword, he was just carrying it around without even knowing what treasure_ he held in his arms._

_And at that moment the wolf decided that the little defenseless girl was a much better snack than anything it could find on someone's plate. It turned towards Rika and lunged at her with its jaws wide open._

*Shink*

_It was almost successful in reaching its pray, but suddenly fell down with blood gushing out of the right side of its neck. The beast was dead before it touch the floor. It looked like the time stopped, nobody moved, the blond owner of the wolf stood there frozen in shock, as were the girl on the woman who most likely was her mother.  
_

_The silence was interrupted by her sheathing her sword and putting it back where it was. And then she proceeded to eat her food as if nothing happened._

_"Sōro..." Muttered the blond in horror. "Who the hell are you?!" He screamed as he pointed ____**Wadō Ichimonji**_ at her.

_"I'm just passing by." She answered without actually turning to face him._

_The answer was lame and she knew it, but there just wasn't any way for her to actually get out of this situation without some sort of confrontation now, at least she hoped it would be a minor one. She even was ready to pay for the pet, money wasn't a problem at the moment. She wasn't proud of it, but to get enough to travel around she had to actually hunt a couple of low-bounty criminal herself, she had about 3.500.000฿ left with her, but that was all._

_"Passing by?!" He came closer to her, with blade still pointed at her head. "Do you know what happened with people that bother the Marines in this town?" The blond waved his sword around._

_She really didn't care what he was talking about, she was more concerned with making sure that innocents wouldn't be harmed because of this guy's uncaring attitude. Bringing an obviously wild and dangerous animal here was something only a moron or a monster would do. Considering that she didn't feel any real **Sakki** from him, he was the former._

_"Just let me eat in peace." She said, while trying to think of a way to get that sword in his hand._

_He won't part with it now for obvious reasons, and she wasn't a thief to simply steal it. Her only hope was that the person in-charge of the base will be much more reasonable than this on. But considering the rumors she heard about the place the chance was less than slim, but could the person dream?  
_

_Apparently the blond wasn't going to simply back down, or search for a peaceful way to solve the this mess. She was really starting to dislike him, considering that he didn't care that his _pet_ almost killed an innocent bystander, the fact that he was swinging one of the legendary __****__Ō__ **Wazamono** around like some common stick and the fact that _two Marines that were standing behind him didn't make a move to save the girl and therefore was in the same league as the blond.

_When she was younger she wanted to join the Marines herself, to fight for Justice and to protect the innocent, but it didn't work out. No matter what she did, how much she tried, she never got that empty feeling in her chest go away, so she abandoned the idea and moved on. And seeing how this two Marines were letting this gut torment the innocent civilians she was actually glad that she did._

_"You!" He awkwardly tried to swing at her with a sword, but the lack of any formal training or physical capabilities made it extremely easy for her to dodge._

_Sliding backwards a little, she let the sword pass right in front of her and cut into the counter, the sharp edge easily cutting wood even without the strength behind it. She then delivered a fast kick right into the weak two-hand grip that the blond moron had on the sword, making him release it and the blade to spin and fly up piercing the ceiling with its sharp tip._

_Without missing a beat she grabbed her sword and delivered a blow with its pommel right into the blond's gut, making his exhale all air from his lungs and fall down on the ground holding his chest in pain._

_She looked up and saw ______**Wadō Ichimonji**_ still stuck in the ceiling, without missing a bit she bent down and took the white sheath that tied to the idiot's hip, ripping a piece of his suit with it, and jumped up grabbing the handle of the blade and pulling it out. After she landed, she slowly put the treasured sword back into it sheath and put it near her _**Shigure**_. Sitting down again she proceeded with her breakfast as if nothing happened.

_"You... Urgh... Bitch..." Groaned the blond on the floor, it was obvious that it was painful for him to talk or even breathe._ Maybe_ she used to much strength in that strike? "Do you know... Huh... just who... Urk... you assaulted?" Or maybe not. "If my father will find out about this, you will be executed." Apparently he able to get some semblance of normal breathing back and even if his voice still sounded pained he wasn't grunting in pain after every word. "And if you run, well, they..." He motioned his head towards the mother and the daughter. "Would be in your place. You saved the brat, right?" He smirked. "That would make her an accomplice, and you should know that anyone assisting a criminal on this island gets the same punishment as the criminal whom they assisted." He was starting to get up, slowly but surely getting up on his feet. "They will be executed."  
_

_She actually stopped moving._

_They were going to execute innocent people in her place simply because of the fact that she protected them? Unacceptable! She would never let someone else take her blame and suffer the punishment that was supposed to be hers. She narrowed her eyes at the blond, he wanted something else, people like him wouldn't be satisfied by simple execution of the bystanders.  
_

_"And the other option?" Her voice was calm and she wasn't looking at him directly, but even the novice would be able to see her tense._

_"Why don't we make a deal, what do you think?" He was almost standing now while using the counter for support. "Why don't you go to jail instead of them?" He smirked. "Lets see... One month?" He nodded to himself. "If you survive for one month I'll even let you go too." He tone was mocking at the end, he really didn't believe she could do it. "How about it?" He smirked.  
_

_She didn't have to think about it, she had absolutely nothing to loose._

* * *

The blond even took her **Shigure** away, along with **Wadō Ichimonji**, leaving her completely alone. The only thing that remained was that empty feeling in her chest that just grew stronger with each day. The blond moron, Helmeppo, was actually the son of the local Marine Base's Commander, and could do pretty much anything he wanted without getting punished for it.

_'Is this what Sensei called despair?'_ She thought to herself. _'The lack of any other option other than acceptance.'_

The only thing that she could do right now was wait and endure.

She once even considered joining Marines, fighting for what was _right_, helping people. But it just didn't happen, heart wasn't into it and she left the idea behind and moved on. She traveled around East Blue, trying to find something for herself, even defeating a couple of weak pirates simply because they attacked her first thinking that a lone girl with a sword would be an easy target. They were wrong and the bounties that she got for them helped along the road.

_'Well, I actually have only about a couple of hundreds thousands left, considering that I had to pay for the spot on the ship that took me here.'_ A random thought ran through her brain. If... No, _when_ she will survive this whole mess she would need to find so sours of income, or she will be left starving. She needed to save some money for the trip to the next island, so she was more than _a little_ low on money. She could probably get herself a boat but her skills at navigation suck, she only knew the basics and how to get the from one closely-placed island to another.

"Hey, Onee-chan? Are you sleeping? I brought you some Onigiri that I made." Her train of thoughts was broken by the child's voice.

She lifted her head a little to look at the brown-haired girl that was standing in front of her.

* * *

Monkey D. Luffy was a person driven mainly by three things.

The first one was his _Dream_ with a capital 'D'. He goal was becoming the **Pirate King**, and nothing will stop him from achieving it. No matter what hardship life will through at him, no matter what challenges he would have to face, no matter what opponent he will have to fight he will reach his goal. This sole unyielding conviction, the unbreakable belief drove him forward and fueled the fire in his heart to burn brighter. With this undying will he endured through the hellish training that Gramps called _light work-outs_, fought wild animals that would have _mauled_ any other person and survived alone in the jungles with only his fists to defend himself.

The second one was _Instinct_. Luffy trusted his guts more than he trusted his brain, because his guts saved him more times than he could count. He actually managed to escape Gramps a couple of times with their help, but even then he thought that Garp simply let him go off the hook for some reason that only the old fart would know.

And the third one was _Curiosity_. Luffy liked interesting things, and even if he didn't understand some complex ones he sure as hell would let it stop him! Well, his curiosity actually got him his **Akuma no Mi**, even if it was a pure accident. Losing his ability to swim was only a minor sacrifice and after _years_ spent int training and refining his ability to wield this power he was proud to admit that now he was strong enough to fight for his future. Also his curiosity more times than not ended up with him getting into dangerous situations, like that one time when he wondered if it was possible for him to use his power to _propel_ himself up or forward.

He _never_ saw Dadan angrier than that one time, she couldn't even master any known human words and was just growling and producing gibberish with her face actually taking purple color. Well, they managed to put out the big forest fire that Luffy started, but that was a minor thing in the Mountain Bandits' Boss' eyes, the only reason that she didn't kicked his ass was because trying to kick _magma_ was one way street to losing a leg.

And right now Luffy was pretty curious about the person tied to the wooden crucifix. She didn't look like a criminal, at least in Luffy's opinion, more like one of those travelers that came through the village and stopped to eat in his home-village.

_*Clunk*_

Before he could jump down and approach her, he heard a noise to his right. Turning his head he watch as a small girl put a ladder against the wall and climbed it. As she reached the top she made a shushing noise at both Coby and Luffy. After checking if there was anyone besides the prisoner on the other side of the wall she threw a rope on the other side, which she used to climb down in the courtyard.

She was young girl with black eyes and brown hair with pigtails. She wore a striped turquoise and purple shirt with a white hood. She was clutching a small bundle to her chest.

After she safely landed on her feet she ran towards the crucified prisoner.

"Luffy-san! You have to stop her!" Said Coby who was looking at the young intruder with horror in his eyes. "This woman is a criminal, she would hurt..."

"Don't worry, nothing bad would happen." Interrupted him Luffy, who smiled widely at the little girl.

"Hey, Onee-chan? Are you sleeping? I brought you some Onigiri that I made." Said the girl after stopping in front of the crucified prisoner.

"You should leave before anyone would see you." Answered the tied-up girl.

Her voice was soft and a little raspy, she probably didn't eat or drink for several days.

"You haven't eaten anything and I wouldn't leave until you do." There that adorable childish stubbornness in the child's voice that can only be see in the ones very young. "Here!" She unwrapped her bundle and showed that inside were two rice-balls. "This is my first time..." She was smiling. "But I made it with all my heart."

* * *

_'This is... tempting.'_ She thought. After all this time spent tied up here, under the merciless sun and heat she probably _couldn't _salivate anymore, but it didn't stop her treacherous stomach from demanding sustaining. And this two Onigiri looked _very_ delicious right now.

"I'm not hungry and you should go away before someone from the base will see you." She really didn't want to hurt the little girl's feelings, but...

_"...__anyone assisting a criminal on this island gets the same punishment as the criminal whom they assisted._"

The words of the blond guy rang in her ears again, she didn't want to see this child actually getting hurt because of her. She would forgive herself if because of her weakness someone so young would be hurt.

"But..." The girl tried to argue.

"Please, _leave_ before someone would notice you and then..." She wasn't able to finish her statement.

"You shouldn't be bulling kids." She turned to the left and saw the blond guy, Helmeppo, coming her way with his two thugs in Marine's uniforms. "Looks like you're still full of energy, _Tashigi_." He said with an arrogant smirk and pretty much spitted her name out.

* * *

"And another weird character appears." Mumbled Luffy.

He wasn't actually impressed with the blond guy, he looked arrogant and snobbish.

And weak.

Luffy _really _didn't like him, he got the same air around him like that people from _there_.

"Thank goodness." Said Coby from near him. "They're Marines so I'm sure that girl will be fine now."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Coby." Muttered Luffy as he watched the whole thing with a bad feeling about how this would end.

* * *

"Hey, that Onigiri looks pretty good." Said Helmeppo with his hands in his pockets.

Without even asking he grabbed one and took a big bite out of it.

"No!" Called the girl desperately.

Suddenly Helmeppo's face twisted in disgust and he started spitting out what he didn't swallow yet.

"Nasty!" He screamed. "It's full of sugar!" He stopped spitting out the pieces of rice and turned towards the little girl. His expression twisted in anger. "Onigiri needs salt! _Salt_!" He barked at her.

"But I thought it would taste better sweet." She muttered in disappointment.

"Take this!" Helmeppo shouted as he swiped the last Onigiri from the girl's hand on the ground and started stomping on it with anger.

"Stop! Stop!" The girl screamed desperately as she fell on her knees while trying to save the results of her hard work.

* * *

Nobody but Luffy noticed how the prisoner, Tashigi if he heard it right, tensed and the ropes around her creaked a little bit, straining against her strength. It made him smirk.

"What a horrible thing..." Whispered Coby from beside him.

* * *

Helmeppo finally finished destroying the piece of food. Rika, Tashigi finally remembered her name, was ready to act if it will appear that the girl herself was in danger. She maybe weakened considerably from the time without any food or water but it didn't mean that she was weak enough to actually lose to this three.

"I tried to make it with all my heart." Tashigi couldn't see it, because Rika was facing the other way, but he could _hear_ it, the little girl was crying.

"You haven't read this poster yet?" Asked Helmeppo with fake boredom in his voice and a hand on his forehead. "It says: _'Anyone who will help this criminal will be executed.'_ and signed _'Marine Captain Morgan.'_." Rika paled from fear and went stiff. Helmeppo chuckled seeing this. "Brat, you know _who_ my father is, right?"

* * *

"Father?" Voiced his question Luffy.

"Then he is Captain Morgan's _son_?" Coby was shocked by the revelation.

* * *

"Hey, toss this brat out." Ordered Helmeppo to the Marine standing behind him, make the man actually gape at the blond in horror. Not seeing his demand being accomplished Helmeppo grabbed the Marine by his scarf. "I'm telling you to toss her outside! Are disobeying my orders?" He asked with venom in his voice. "I'll tell my father!"

"Yes, right away!" Said the man, frightened by the possibility of being executed for _'treason'_.

He stepped towards Rik, who was backing away in fear.

"No..." She muttered, trying to shield herself from danger with her arms.

"Little Girl, I'm sorry for having to hurt you." The man sounded genuinely apologetic.

Tashigi tensed, ready to interfere, but then she noticed the man in black suit, black coat and straw-hat sitting on the wall.

* * *

As soon as the little girl flew over the wall Luffy moved. With one big jump he reached her held her tightly to his chest, securing her in place. He spun in mid-air and landed on his feet, and only then loosen his hold on the child.

She looked at him and smiled shyly.

"Thank you." She said as Luffy set her on the ground.

"Luffy-san, are you alright?" Coby ran up to them with worried expression on his face. Seeing as Luffy was unscratched he switched his attention to the poor girl. "Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked kneeling in front of her. "What a horrible man." He muttered while checking the girl for any injury. "Does it hurt anywhere?"

Luffy on the other hand was looking at the wall, he thought were about the girl who was tied to the wooden crucifix.

* * *

"You bastard." Growled Tashigi.

She saw what happened and knew that Rika was alive and unhurt, that boy in the straw-hat save her, but she was still angry about the fact that _Marines_ out of all people would harm an innocent child like that! Helmeppo was openly laughing in front of her.

"It seems like you're pretty stubborn, being still alive after these three weeks." He sounded amused.

"I'm not going to die. I _will_ endure all three weeks and after that I will leave." Answered Tashigi.

"Well, do your best then." Helmeppo sounded smug for some reason, but Tashigi really didn't care why at the moment.

He turned around a started walking away while laughing, two Marines following him.

"Ten more days left." Muttered Tashigi more to herself than to anyone else.

"Only if you'll _live_ that long." Said Helmeppo who apparently heard her.

* * *

"How could he do such a horrible thing?" Muttered Coby, while still checking on the girl. "Luffy-san!" Not hearing an answer he turned around and noticed that his temporal companion was gone. "Not here!?" He exclaimed in surprise.

* * *

Tashigi heard footsteps and lifted her head to see who decided to pay her a visit. It was the same boy who saved Rika, now that he was closer she was able to properly see his appearance.

He was tall, taller than her probably. He wore a yellow straw-hat with a red band on his head, from under which you could see raven-black short hair and black eyes with a small scar under his left one. He was wearing long black captain-coat over black suit and black suit-pants, she also noticed red dress shirt with a black slightly loose tie under the suit and on his feet were flip-flops, which actually didn't spoil the image even a little for some reason.

He stopped a couple of meters in front of her.

"Is she alright?" Asked Tashigi breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I caught her just in time, and she unharmed." He answered.

"Thank you." She smiled a little, relieved to hear that Rika was alright.

"Why are you here? You're strong enough to break free by yourself, and I can see that there is no way that these guy would be able to beat you, so why are still here?" He actually looked honestly confused.

"It's none of your business." She answered. "Just leave me alone please, I need to endure ten more days and then I would be able to leave."

"You're a stubborn person." He told her bluntly with a wide smile and turned to leave.

"Wait." Tashigi said, making the straw-hat-wearing boy stop and look at her over his shoulder. "Can you give me that?" He motion towards the crushed rice-ball on the ground.

"Are you really going to eat it?" Asked the boy as he picked it up. "It's more of a _dirt_-ball now."

Tashigi looked at the dirty remains of the treat. Images of what transpired a couple minutes ago flashed before her eyes.

_"This is my first time..." Rika was smiling. "But I made it with all my heart."_

_"I tried to make it with all my heart." Tashigi couldn't see it, because Rika was facing the other way, but he could __hear_ it, the little girl was crying.

"Yes, just give to me please." She nodded.

Luffy just shrugged and gave her the dirty rice-ball. Tashigi knew that it would be bad, basically eating sweet dirt with rice tasted awful, but she forced herself to chew and swallow the whole thing. After coughing a couple of time, her body fighting against _not-food_ that being forcefully shoved into it, she was able regain her bearings.

"I told you so." Said the boy with a smile.

It actually wasn't a smug smile, more like he was actually _approving_ of what she had done. For some reason it made the empty feeling inside her fade just a little bit.

"It was delicious." She told him. "Thank you for the food."

His smile widened a tine bit.

* * *

"Really?" Exclaimed Rika, the girl that brought the rice-balls and was saved by Luffy earlier.

"Yeah, she ate everything." Confirmed Luffy with a smile.

He, Rika and Coby were sitting on street, Luffy was leaning against the wall while sitting on the barrel with his hat lowered over his eyes, Coby was sitting on the nearby stairs and Rika was standing in front of them with a happy smile on her face.

"I'm so happy!" She clasped her hand together, almost tearing up.

"So, is she really a criminal?" Asked Coby. "I mean, she had to do something _really_ bad for them to leave her there like that."

"No!" Exclaimed Rika and then became sad. "Well, he's in jail because of us."

"Hm?" Luffy lifted his head a little, looking at the girl. "What do you mean by that?"

"This is all Helmeppo's fault." Said Rika sadly. "Capitan Morgan's son."

Luffy listened very carefully to what the little girl told them. This girl, Tashigi, was actually a very good person in his opinion, and when she will survive the month, and he was _absolutely sure_ that she will given how stubborn she is, he will ask her to join his crew. She was a swordswoman, and even if he didn't know much about the thing itself, he could see that she was pretty strong and with enough determination to grow even stronger.

Luffy wasn't a person who complicated things for no reason, he didn't like complicated things period because most of the times he just didn't understand them and he _rarely_ did, it just wasn't worth the headache of figuring them out in the first place. Right now he decided that Tashigi will join his crew, and that was final.

_'And I'm_ not_ acting like Gramps.'_ He shuddered at the thought.

The last part about Tashigi being stuck there for _three weeks_ while being beaten up daily only cemented his decision even further. Someone who could survive this long was defiantly someone Luffy wanted as a member of his crew!

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Rika started to cry again.

"So that's what happened." Mumbled Coby.

Before he could say anything else they heard ruckus from the nearby tavern. Luffy and Coby stood up and looked at Rika, whose eyes were wide, the tavern belonged to her mother. Without saying anything the three of them moved towards it and entered.

Helmeppo was sitting behind one of the tables with his legs on said table, his two grunts standing dutifully behind him.

"I'm hungry!" He exclaimed with an arrogant smirk on his face. "We're all going to eat for free." His annoying laugh made Luffy twitch. "Hey, hurry up and bring some alcohol! What's taking so long? Hurry up!"

Luffy was standing near the entrance of the tavern and watching the whole thing. This guy was too much like that Nobles from Goa Kingdom and it made him sick. Also, from the corner of his eye he noticed a familiar face, the orange-haired girl that he saw on that cruise-ship. Now she wore an orange mini-skirt with two white rings on each side filled in with orange or brown in their centers, a white and blue striped shirt and brown high-heeled boots.

He didn't give any indication that he recognized her, simply because he had no reason to, so he focused on the blond moron.

"Gramps would have been pissed if he saw this." He muttered to himself.

"Oh, that's right!" Said Helmeppo, as his glass was being filled with wine. "Since I'm tired of waiting, I've decided to execute Tashigi tomorrow." Luffy's face became blank and emotionless.. "Look forward to it. everyone." He laughed again.

Luffy really didn't care at the moment just _who_ this blond bastard was, he just did what was right thing to do in this situation. He dashed forward and delivered a devastating, at least for Helmeppo, blow right into the blond's cheek. The whole thing happened as if in slow-motion, as Helmeppo's face was turned by the punch and some blood flew out of his mouth. Suddenly, as if the spell was lifted, the blond flew toward the wall...

_*Thud*_

... and impacted it with enough force to actually make the wood crack a little. Surprisingly he was still conscious and apparently even able to speak.

"Wh... Who the hell are you?" He questioned, as he held his left hand over the bruised cheek.

You could see a small trickle of blood flowing down from the left corner of his mouth, and another one running down his face from the place where it impacted the wall. The tow Marines that were with him were busy helping him get up from the floor. Luffy moved to deliver another blow, but suddenly two arms wrapped around his waist.

"Luffy-san, stop it!" The only thing that stopped him from turning his body into magma and simply leaving the attacker without arms was Coby's voice.

"He's trash!" Growled Luffy.

"You... You hit me!" Apparently Helmeppo was so shocked by the fact that someone actually dealt some physical damage to him that he was still sitting on the floor and gaping. "I'm Captain Morgan's son!" Like _that_ fact would stop Luffy from beating him up.

"So what?!" Asked Luffy, still held back by Coby.

It's not like he _couldn't_ break out from the smaller boy's grip, he just didn't want to at the moment.

"I'll tell father and have you executed!" Luffy could see tears in the moron's eyes.

"Why don't you do something yourself?!" Growled Luffy through clenched teeth.

One of the thing that he really didn't like were the weaklings that hid behind someone strong and were arrogant trash because of it! If you want to boast strength, it must be your own, and no someone's else!

"Luffy-san, calm down." Coby was trying to pacify him. "You shouldn't make the Marines your enemy."

"I've decided, Coby." Said Luffy with steel in his voice. "Tashigi will be the first one to join my crew!"

* * *

The one place on the Marine's base that _no one_ wanted to enter was Captain Morgan's office. It was actually the biggest room on the base, not counting armory and storage. There was several reasons for no one wanting to enter the room.

The first one was that if you would do it without being invited you risked to be executed. Apparently disobeying _any_ order or breaking _any_ rule was considered _treason_ and therefore was punished by death. And the Marines actually wanted to _live_.

The second one was the oppressive aura that was saturated around the office itself, making anyone who entered there almost choke on air. The always angry and frowning face of Morgan didn't help the situation.

"I am..." Said the large figure sitting in the chair behind the desk. You could only see a mop of blond hair, muscled arms and the top of blue Marine-coat because the chair was turned towards the window with its back towards the door. "... _Great_!"

"Yes!" Saluted the lone Marine standing in front of the desk, but not close enough to be the target of the superior officer's ire. "That is correct Captain Morgan!"

"But there hasn't been much tribute to me lately." Morgan added.

"Er..." The Marine nervously tried to find how to answer being risking his head. "The problem is that the income of our people has decreased."

"The problem is not having enough admiration for me..." Morgan removed the cigar from his mouth. "Isn't that right?"

The soldier wasn't able to answer as the doors of the office were thrown open by Helmeppo, who was holding his left cheek with a handkerchief and had a little bit of blood trailing down from the left corner of his mouth.

"Father!" He called out. "There's a guy I want you to kill!"

* * *

_"Your reason to fight, to grow stronger, what is it?"_

_'I still didn't find it.' _Thought Tashigi, remembering the words of her Sensei. Considering that she was an orphan her Sensei was the closest this she had to a father, no matter how weird he was at times. Oh, he was kind and all that, but when you're told to fight off several wolves with a wooden sword you start questioning you Sensei's sanity for ordering this and yours for actually following this order.

Suddenly she saw a shadow in front of her. Lifting her head a little she saw the same straw-hat boy from earlier.

"You're here again?" She asked. "You have too much free time and too little common sense to come here again."

"I'm here to untie the ropes." He said, making Tashigi's eyes widen. "You're going to become my comrade."

Tashigi thought that she must have misheard him, or she was hallucinating from the heat and lack of proper food or water.

"What did you say?" She couldn't help but ask.

"I'm looking for people to join my pirate crew." He said with a grin, as he came closer.

_'Is he serious?'_ She asked herself. There just was no way that he was actually _that_ stupid! You just don't ask random people to join your _pirate crew_, it's just isn't done! _Who_ is dumb enough to actually do it?! _'Apparently_ this_ guy..._'

"I refuse!" She said without missing a beat. She maybe was _technically_ imprisoned by Marines, but she _wasn't_ a criminal and wasn't planning on becoming one any time soon! Pirates were vile murderous monsters that killed, raped, cheated and robbed good people for no other reason than money and entertainment! She would sooner _die_ than become one of them! "You want me to become a _villain_?" She asked angrily.

But even if she despised the _idea itself_, even if this went against her morals and nature...

_'Why does the emptiness that I felt for so long became weaker?'_ She asked herself. She couldn't deny the fact that the idea itself disgusted her, the boy himself somehow made the dreaded empty feeling in her chest recede, not by much but it was the _first_ time something like that happened. She looked into his eyes, and understood the reason. _'A goal. He has a goal in his life, the reason to move forward that I lack.'_ She could see it, burning in his eyes, even when he wasn't actively talking about it, he was still unyieldingly moving towards it. _'Maybe he can help me...'_

"What's wrong with being a pirate?" He asked, snapping her out of her shock.

_'No.' _She shook herself out of her daze, even if he would be able to help her, she refused to become an outlaw for such a reason. She _refused_ to sacrifice her morals and personal code for a purpose.

"Pirate are scum." She answered bluntly. "Who would want to be one?"

"Does it matter?" He asked with the same cheerful smile. "You're already a criminal, so there wouldn't be much of a difference."

"I am _not_ a criminal!" She said with steel in he voice. "When the month will end I will be free and I will leave this place. I _will_ survive and then I will do what I want." She wouldn't be denied in her search.

"Is that so?" He asked and crossed his arms on his chest with a thoughtful expression on his face. And then he smiled that carefree smile of his again. "But I've already decided that you will be my comrade."

She gaped at him, there just wasn't any way that he was serious, but his face told her otherwise.

"You can't decide that by yourself!" She screamed at him, fully losing her compose.

"You use a sword, right?" He asked, actually making her pause from a seemingly random question.

"Yes..., but this bastard took it from me." She admitted bitterly.

"I'll go get if for you." He said

"What?" She asked surprised.

"So when I'll return your sword, you'll become my comrade." He said with a grin.

"That's blackmail!" She couldn't help it, this boy was just too stubborn and absolutely infuriating. The boy just laughed and started walking towards the base. "Is he going to attack the base by himself?" Mumbled Tashigi to herself, shocked at the boy's actions.

* * *

On top of the tallest base's building several Marines were pulling up a giant statue.

Overseeing this was Capitan Morgan himself.

Morgan was a very tall and slim, intimidating man with white-blond hair and a steel jaw. As his epithet suggests, his right hand was replaced by a huge steel axe, the handle of which seems to go right through his forearm. Like most marines of high rank, he wears a large, billowing coat like a cape. His coat however does not have _'Justice'_ on the back. He can also normally be seen smoking a cigar.

The statue that was being lifted upright was of him, with his hands spread wide.

"Okay, hold it there!" He called out. "Make it stand with one pull."

"Father!" Helmeppo was standing behind Morgan with an angry expression on his face. "Why aren't you helping me get revenge?" The bruise on his cheek wasn't gone yet, so it was pretty obvious for his whining. "He punched me! He punched the face that even my father hasn't punched!"

"The reason I have never punched you in the face..." Began Morgan not even turning around. "Do you know why?"

"Well..." Helmeppo wasn't sure where this was going. "... that is because I'm your son..." He sounded a bit uncertain at the end.

"That's right." Agreed Morgan. "You are..." He started turning around. Suddenly, without any warning he delivered a right hook right into Helmeppo's face, sending him flying at the roof's stone-fence. As the blond boy shook himself aware he saw Morgan standing right in front of him "... not worth hitting! My _worthless_ son!" Morgan stepped closer. "Don't misunderstand." He picked up Helmeppo with the wooden end of his axe-hand. "The who's great here is your father, in other words, _me_!" He then threw Helmeppo down on the floor and turned around. "It seems that there was an intruder in the execution field."

"That runt? I took care of her." Answered Helmeppo fearfully.

"You killed her, right?" Asked Morgan over his right shoulder.

"No, she's just a kid..." Even being a complete bastard and trash, Helmeppo was appalled at the idea of killing a _child_.

"Hey, you!" Morgan pointed at the nearby Marine, who had a green scarf instead of blue like other Marines. "Go to the town and finish the job!"

"But..." Began the Marine. "... she's just a little girl, even if it's your order, Captain..."

"It doesn't matter if it's a kid..." Morgan walked towards the _disobeying_ Marine. "Anyone who disobeys my orders is a _traitor_!"

"But..." He hesitated only for a moment. "I can't!"

"Hmm?" Morgan raised his axe.

_*Wshooh*Shink*_

One swing of the massive weapon was enough to deliver an almost fatal blow the soldier, a big cur opened on his back and he fell down unconscious with blood pouring from the wound.

"Stewie!" Called out other Marines.

"You didn't have to go _that_ far!" Exclaimed Helmeppo in terror and panic.

"Nevermind..." Said Morgan as he looked at the blood on his axe. "For the sake of reminding the citizens..." With one swift move he removed the blood from his weapon. "I'll go there myself!" He looked at the people surrounding him and put his left hand over the backside of his axe. "I became a Captain because of this arm!" He looked at his axe-hand and then back at the crowd. "Listen! _Rank_ is most important thing in the world! I am the highest ranking officer in this base, which means I'm the _Greatest One_ here!" His voice became cold. "_Great Men_ doesn't make mistakes! Isn't that correct?"

"Yes!" Answered the terrified Marines. "This is correct!"

"Look, it took many months and it's finally done." He looked at the statue. "This is the symbol of my power!" He lifted his axe. "Now, put it up! Raise it at eh highest point of this base to show my greatness."

"Pull! Pull! Pull!" Chanted the Marines as they lifted the statue.

_*Gachin*_

Suddenly statue's left arm nicked the roof of the small building on the roof.

"Hey you!" The Marine that was responsible for the rope tied to the arm didn't need to turn around to know that Morgan was right behind him. "Just now... You damaged my statue."

"I'm very sorry! I was careless!" Marine was trying to find a way to explain himself without being killed as the result.

"Do you know how Long I've been looking forward to the completion of this statue?!" Growled Morgan. "I said already the this monument represents _me_, damaging it means treason against _me_!" Morgan raised his axe. "Die!"

_*Kaboom*_

Marine was save by the explosion of the floor right beneath the statue, the chunks of molten rock and flaming debris, that were lifted in the air by the power of the explosion, started falling down.

* * *

**_Several Minutes Earlier_**

* * *

Luffy walked at the door of the base's main building.

"Alright, so where is everyone?" He looked around while scratching the back of his head. "If I don't find that blond guy, I would be able to get Tashigi's sword back." He looked at the massive metal doors that were the entrance of the base. "Well, as good as I would get." He smirked and raised his right fist.

He hand started glowing red from the heat and bubbling, turning fully into magma and growing about _twice_ the size of the normal human arm.

[**Kasō**]

He delivered a devastating punch, making the slightly melted door fly backwards into the base. Seeing that the path was clear he returned his right hand into its normal condition and ran into the base.

One thing that Luffy didn't accounted for was that the base was a freaking _maze_! He tried to find the stairs but it was far harder than anyone would think, and he really was going to spend all day running around, he had a comrade to recruit!

A very devious smirk appeared on his face.

"Well, I need to go up, right?" He muttered to himself, as his legs started turning into magma, burning and melting the floor.

When he was near the building he noticed same strange activity on the top of the tallest building, this was the reason that he entered it, but if everyone was on the roof... This technique wasn't made to be used in the areas with a lot of flammable objects, the forest fire that he created the first time he tried it made him remember this little fact very well, Dadan made sure of that. But considering that it was an _enemy territory_ and he couldn't care less about the damage done to the base...

[**Kazan Kanketsusen**]

He was propelled upwards in literal _geyser_ of magma shooting from his waist and replacing his feet. Breaking through the ceiling and getting higher and higher he was making his way up to the roof at a pretty decent pace. The only problem with this way of transportation was the fact that he didn't know how long he will have to go. He was basically punching his way up with his fists, that were made from magma at the moment, and it was pretty hard to see just how much higher he needed to go.

Finally he reached what appeared to a _double-ceiling_ with a second layer being a tad bit tougher than the previous one. After breaking through it he saw clear sky in front of him. Canceling the technique and landing near the hole that he made he looked around. There was about a dozen Marines that were covering from the chunks of the floor that he broke through, a big guy with a metal jaw and an axe for a right hand, and...

"Here you are!" Luffy exclaimed as he grabbed Helmeppo by the collar of his suit. "You're coming with me, I need to return something to its rightful owner!" He put the blond over his shoulder and ran towards the open door of the small building on the roof, that he assumed was the actual entrance and exit.

Helmeppo didn't even had time to get his bearings as he was being dragged as a sack of potatoes somewhere, and why is the voice of his kidnapper sounded so familiar?

* * *

Morgan was the first regain his footing and the first to look around. The first thing that he noticed was that his statue, the symbol of his _Might_ and _Rule_ was in pieces. It was broken beyond repair and in some places even _melted_ a fair bit.

He looked around, trying to get an idea of _what_ actually happened. He saw a teen in a black suit, coat and straw-hat dragging his worthless spawn somewhere. The dots connected in his head and the Marine Captain saw _red_.

"Capture him, I'll kill him _myself_!" he roared, getting the still slightly dazed but apparently aware enough soldiers to give chaise after the criminal.

He would _murder_ this little piece of shit himself! With his axe!

"Captain! There is someone in the execution field!" Called one of the soldiers that were still on the roof.

"What?" Growled Morgan. He looked at the field and so what appeared a small pink-haired boy running towards the crucified prisoner. "More and more traitors just keep appearing." He turned towards the nearest soldier. "Kill the traitor!"

* * *

The already familiar orange-haired girl jumped down from the ceiling where she actually _jumped_ from fright when a literal _geyser_ of magma shot through the floor and into the ceiling, it was _pure luck_ that she wasn't nicked by any debris. She was still a little afraid because of the pretty big hole with _glowing red-hot_ edges not far from her position, whatever did just _couldn't_ be human!

_'Maybe they kept some monster here and it escaped?'_ She thought in fear.

She crouched down to try and lock-pick the door open, but was interrupted by the voices of the Marines.

"Go! Go!" Two marines ran from one corridor to another not far away from her.

"Don't let him escape!" Two more ran in the same direction.

_'So I was right,_ someone _is here and causing a disturbance._' She really hoped that she was lucky and whoever it was wouldn't be interested in her, and create enough confusion so she would be able to sneak away without anyone noticing.

* * *

"Where is Tashigi's sword?" Asked Luffy as he carried Helmeppo over his shoulder and ran from the Marines.

"In my father's room!" Screamed the blond in fear. "After the whole mess that she did father locked it in his safe!"

"Where is his room?" Luffy really wanted to get this whole mess done with, he _really_ hated getting lost.

"First turn on the left, and then to the end of the corridor, you won't miss it!" Answered the now terrified blond.

Suddenly three Marines armed with rifles appeared from behind the corner.

"Don't move!" One of them screamed as all three aimed their weapons at Luffy.

"Release Helmeppo-sama!" Added the other one.

"So, you want him?" Asked Luffy with a grin, not even slowing down. "Here you go, he's all yours!" He called out as he grabbed the blond's leg and threw him at the tree soldiers.

The collision made them fall down in a pile of limbs, Luffy just jumped over them and ran further down the corridor. making the left turn he a large double-doors at the end and ran faster.

* * *

"Run, Tashigi-san." Said Coby as he tried to untie her rope.

"Don't do it!" She said to him, trying to make the boy get away so he won't get killed. "They'll kill you for this!"

"I can't stand by and watch these Marines anymore." Said Coby while struggling with the knot. "I want to be a good Marine! Just like the way Luffy-san is determined to become the Pirate King!"

"What?!" Tashigi almost chocked on her own saliva. "P... Pirate King?! You're joking, right?!"

_'There is just no way someone with such an ambition...'_ She suddenly remembered his eyes. _'That is his goal? He great dream?'_ She wasn't sure how to react to that. She knew about the last words of the legendary Gol D. Roger, but actually _meet_ someone who took it as his life-goal? That was something she didn't think was possible, not in the East Blue at least.

"I was a bit shocked when first heard him..." Coby chuckled. "... but he's serious!"

_*Wooooot*Shik*_

Suddenly Coby's shoulder exploded in a small fountain of blood.

* * *

Luffy didn't even bother to open the door to the office he just kicked it ripping it from its hinges. Standing on the half-destroyed door he looked around and instantly spotted a big safe, that was almost as tall as him and a small one nearby. He ignored the second one because there was just noway a sword could be stored there, it even looked far more fragile the the big one.

Walking up to the big metal box he put his arm on the hinge and started melting it but turning his hand up to its wrist into magma and making it as hot as he could without making anything else in the office catch on fire because of the heat. Taking care of the first one he started with the second hinge. Safe wasn't designed to keep away the users of the **Akuma no Mi**, so it was reinforced with Kairōseki, making it _extremely_ easy for someone like Luffy to break it open.

After melting the second hinge he tried to pull the thing open, but without any result.

_'Alright, that didn't work.'_ He thought.

He then put his hand on the center of the safe's door and started melting the thing away, making sure to let the molten metal to drip down on the _outside_, he really didn't want to damage Tashigi's sword with molten metal simply because he was careless. Makino always said that when you want to make a friend it was very important to make a good first impression.

The work wasn't going as fast as with the hinges, but far faster than anyone could open it without knowing the combination.

After a couple of minutes he was able to get through the thick door and reach the insides. He was pretty lucky that the safe was pretty deep or he would have had a problem. Reaching inside he pulled out not one, but _two_ swords, one green and the other one white.

_'I have not time to figure out which one belongs to Tashigi, I will just take them both!' _He thought as he took them under his left arm. Before leaving he looked inside one more time to make sure that he didn't miss anything vulnerable. he _was_ a pirate and leaving any loot behind was a bad habit that he wasn't planning on developing.

The only thing that he found was a small book that was lying on the small metal shelf at the backside of the safe-box. He didn't care to read it, and just stuffed it into his breast-pocket, maybe it was something worse reading, but right now he didn't have time for it. He then ran up to the window and looked outside, luckily the window opened a pretty good view of the execution field.

And he didn't like what he saw. Taking several back he...

[**Kazan Kanketsusen**]

... launched himself forward with a burst of magma, right through the window and directly towards Coby and Tashigi.

* * *

"I've been shot!' Screamed Coby looking at his bloody hand. "Bleeding! I'm bleeding!" He glasses were lying not far away from him. "I'm gonna die!"

_'Over-dramatic much?'_ Thought Tashigi as she sweat-dropped. She knew that it was only a flesh wound and he wasn't in any real danger, but apparently this was being his first time being wounded like that made him fall into shock.

"Are you alright...?" She finally asked. "Kid, you need to run, _now_! They're almost here and they will _kill_ you!" She wasn't going to let someone die because of her.

"No!" Said Coby while panting. "I've... got to set you free as soon as possible!"

"Just listen to me, _please_!" She tried to reason with him. "There is no need to worry about me! As long as I can survive this for a month they'll set me free!" She also was worried what would happen with Rika and her mother if she would escape. "Hurry up and lea..."

"They will not set you free!" Screamed Coby at her. Tashigi froze from his words and just watched as the small boy was slowly getting up. "Because they're gonna kill you tomorrow!"

_'No...'_ She thought. _'It can't be true.'_

_"__Why don't we make a deal, what do you think?_"

_'He lied to me?'_ She really couldn't even think about it without feeling awful. She was tricked that easily, she was going to die because of her own stupid naivety!

"Nonsense!" She tried to deny his words. "That bastard promised me that if I could survive this for a month, he'd free me..." She really wanted Coby's word's to be a lie, but deep down she knew that they were nothing but truth.

"Helmeppo never intended to keep his promise!" Said Coby as he shakily stood up. "That's why Luffy-san got mad and punched Helmeppo on your behalf. Because he was _toying with you_!"

Tashigi's eyes widened. An image of the straw-hat wearing boy flashed in front of her eyes.

_"But I've already decided that you will be my comrade."_

_'He knew.'_ She was shocked. _'Then why didn't he tell me from the beginning?' _Another image appeared from her recent memory.

_"So when I'll return your sword, you'll become my comrade."_

_'He wanted me to join on my own free_ _will._' She understood. _'That wasn't an attempt of blackmail, he just wanted to give me a reason to join him.'_ She looked at the building not far away from her. _'And he actually attacked a whole Marine base just for my sake?'_ A strange unfamiliar warm feeling started growing in her chest, small and barely noticeable, but still there.

Many people looked upon her because she was a woman, and they thought of her a weak and fragile. She always could see a small hint of mockery in the eyes of her opponent when she sparred with them, only it was then replaced by shock when she defeated them without even getting a scratch. She hadn't notice it then, but this boy, Luffy, didn't look at her that way, he even said that she was strong himself.

_"Why are you here? You're strong enough to break free by yourself, and I can see that there is no way that these guy would be able to beat you, so why are still here?"_

_'Maybe I should reconsider his offer to join him.'_ A small warm smile graced her face, a first _real smile_ in the last two years.

"Luffy, huh?" She muttered to herself.

"Luffy-san is being chased by the Marines right now." Said Coby as he walked towards her. "They will never let the two of you off!" He was panting, but still kept talking. "Please! After I set yo free, please, help rescue Luffy-san!" He really didn't have t ask, she already decided to help the raven-haired boy. "I'm not telling you to become a pirate, but please, he's my savior! Luffy-san is very strong, and as long as you two join forces..." He fell on his knees. "... you would be able to escape this tow together!"

"Hold it right there!" Coby and Tashigi turned to see about a dozen of Marines aiming their rifles at the two.

"By the treason you have committed against me..." Morgan was standing right behind the group of soldiers. "... you will be both executed on the spot!" Coby had tears running down his face from fear. "You guy did some interesting things. Do you and that guy in a straw hat intend to start a revolution? Before my great power you're nothing but trash!"

"Says a person that is hiding behind his troops." Growled Tashigi. "If we're trash than you are even worse than that!" She spatted out.

"Don't underestimate me, garbage like you only deserve to die and nothing else." He pointed his axe at them. "Aim!" He commended his forces as they took a stance.

_'I can't die just yet!' _Thought Tashigi.

_"Why do you need a sword, Tashigi?"_

_'Sensei...'_ The image of a man who helped her start reaching her potential flashed before her eyes. _'I think I'm starting to understand what is my reason to draw my blade.'_

_"So when I'll return your sword, you'll become my comrade."_

The image of the smiling teen flashed in front of her eyes. For some reason she couldn't shake it off, just thinking about him inviting her to his crew made something snap inside her. She didn't know what it was, but she would definitely find out!

"I can't die like this!" She growled out.

"Fire!" Commanded Morgan and the Marines pulled the triggers.

_*Swoosh*Bang*__Bang*__Bang*__Bang*__Bang*__Bang*__Bang*_

The moment the rifles fired a black blur appeared in front of Coby and Tashigi, taking the hit from them.

_'Luffy!'_ Tashigi was openly gaping, the person who she knew no more than a couple of hours actually took a bullet for her! _'Why?!'_ She just couldn't understand how he could just risk his life fore some stranger's sake without even thinking about it.

_"But I've already decided that you will be my comrade."_

_'No, not _stranger_'s, he already consider me his comrade.'_ The strange warm feeling in her chest grew a little stronger, replacing the cold emptiness that was there before.

"Luffy-san!" Exclaimed Coby.

"Straw-hat..." Muttered Morgan.

Marine's aim was true, and all bullets hit Luffy all over his body. The only thing that was _wrong_ was the lack of blood. Luffy was just standing there, without even moving and from the wounds that inflicted upon him didn't leak blood. He lifted his head a little and grinned widely.

"Sorry, but this doesn't work on me!" As he said it...

_*Drip*__Drip*__Drip*_

Something started to leak out of his wounds, but it wasn't blood. It looked more like... _molten metal_?

"No way..." Mumbles the Marines.

"I told you I'm strong, Coby!" Luffy openly laughed.

"You..." Muttered Tashigi as she looked at the young man in front of her. "Just _who_ are you?"

He turned a little and looked at her, with that cheeky smile of his and fire in his eyes. The warm feeling inside her chest became even stronger.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy" He grinned at her. "I'm the man who will become the **Pirate King**!"

* * *

**Techniques used in the chapter:  
**

**-Monkey D. Luffy:**

******Kasō** - Cremation.  


******Kazan Kanketsusen** - Volcanic Geyser.  


* * *

**Alright, I know I twisted Tashigi's past a fair bit, and added some psychological side to her reason for joining Luffy's crew, but please, give it a chance. I actually saw a could of Movies with the 'Lack of Purpose'-concept and the idea just got stuck inside my head, and I found a way to use it properly here! I know that it looks kind of overplayed, but I _really_ just couldn't come up with anything else so Tashigi would join.  
**

**As always I'm eager to read your Reviews with Criticism, Ideas, Suggestions, Questions and other things that you would want to write there! Everyone's opinion is important, no matter good or bad!**


	3. Ch3: The Reason to Fight

**I don't own One Piece, it belongs to Eiichiro Oda.**

**Well, here is the third one, I hope you'll like it!**

* * *

**Apok:** **Not to worry, see for yourself, he isn't dumb, just incurably twisted.**

**apocalyps24: I'm going to change a lot of things,** **and considering the plot that I'm cooking up... Well, you'll just have to wait and see. As for the reason for replacing Zoro? I'm going to replace most of the Crew with new and almost unused Characters, so don't be surprised when things will start changing rapidly from the routine that everyone is used to!**

**Lightningblade49: Probably, people tend to shun things that are out of their comfort-zones, Zoro being dead kind of threw them out of the loop, and they actually lost the desire to read simply because they don't know what will happen. **

**WaMiLoe: Kuina is dead. Also, the glasses weren't enough of a hint? Well, here is the third Chapter, I hope you won't be disappointed.**

**serpentguy: I'm trying to twist the world as much as humanly possible without loosing the plot or starting to need OC. I really hate when people help themselves by spawning crappy OC that has shitty illogical powers and absolutely no reason to even be strong in the first place. I'll try to cut the amount of Scenes Changes, but considering that they are also POV-Changers it's kind of hard. Thank you, I'll try to keep up the good work and their good characters, also what do you think about Tashigi's lack of ambition and Luffy's slightly improved intelligence?**

**Wacko12: Yes, he is.**

**NAFNAF509: No problem! I hope everyone will like what I'm doing with the story!**

**w1lliam: Oh, don't worry, I won't kill them all, there will be Canon Character on the Crew, it's unavoidable!**

**OnePieceFan2: 1) Thank you! 2) Well, she's a loyal and slightly prudish, so what do you think? 3) Don't worry, Luffy know that his powers are dangerous, Garp and Shanks made sure of that! 4) Can't tell, Spoilers won't be released! 5) I'm mostly writing in the evenings and my mind is kind of half-bake from work, so sorry if their some problems with grammar and spelling. 6) Well, here you go!**

**R .D. T: It's all part of the plot and of course I know what I'm doing! Thank you for reading!**

* * *

**Chapter 003: The Reason to Fight**

* * *

_Wealth, fame, power... Gold Rodger, the King of the Pirates obtained this and everything else the world had to offer. And his dying words drove countless souls to seas._

_"You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place! Now you just have to find it!"_

_These words lured men to the Grand Line in pursuit of dreams greater than they've ever dared to imagine! This is the time known as _'The Great Pirate Era'_!_

* * *

_'Impossible.'_ Was the first thought that ran through her mind. Luffy was standing in front of her, absolutely unharmed and smiling, his words were still ringing in her ears. _'Coby said that it was Luffy's goal, but to hear it from himself is absolutely different.'_

She didn't really know how to react to his statement.

"Wha... _What_?" She muttered in awe. "Do you know what does it _mean_? Do you even understand what you're saying?!"

_'That fire in his eyes, this dream is the source of it?' _Tashigi saw as his grin became wider. _'Someone like him can actually exist?'_ The warm feeling in her chest almost fully banished the cold emptiness that plagued her for so long.

"The Pirate King is the Pirate King..." Answered Luffy. "What _else_ could it mean?"

Marines and Morgan were standing and staring in shock at the _impossibility_ in front of them.

_Normal person_ just couldn't survive being shot with so many bullets.

They just didn't know what to do, nobody knew how to handle an opponent that wouldn't keel over from being shot!

"I was surprised too, but that's the kind of person he is!" Exclaimed Coby with a smile, while still holding his bleeding shoulder. "He will become the Pirate King and find the ultimate treasure, **One Piece**!"

Luffy only grinned at the statement.

_'A person with an impossible goal, huh?'_ Thought Tashigi. She then finally noticed the two swords that Luffy held under his left arm. _'He brought them, he actually brought ****__Shigure_ and **Wadō Ichimonji**!' She knew what did it mean.

_*Ba-dump*_

The warmth in her chest erupted from something akin of a glowing embers into roaring flames, that spread through every bone, every muscle and every vein in her body. She didn't feel tired anymore, she didn't feel the fatigue that plague her for several weeks, she felt more _alive_ that ever in her life. But the most important part was that the creeping coldness that haunted her for years was _gone_, fully _gone_ without even trace left.

"Here, your sword." Said Luffy. as he offered her **Shigure** and **Wadō Ichimonji**. "Which one is it? I couldn't tell so I grabbed both."

"The green one is mine." She answered truthfully. "The white one I came here to collect, something as beautiful as it can't be left in the hands of such corrupted people."

Luffy seemed to consider her words, but then he just smiled again.

"So, I brought back your sword, what do you say about joining me?" His smile didn't faltered, not even for a second.

_'It's not like I don't have a choice, I'm sure he will give me my swords back even if I decline.' _Thought Tashigi. _'But the fact is that I_ want_ to go with him. I don't know why or how, but he was able to purge that horrible feeling that I was plagued by for so many years, and there is _now way_ I will simply let him go after that!_' Thought the young swordswoman.

"Aya, Senchō." She nodded with a wide smile that she wouldn't be able hold back even if she tried.

_'Senchō, huh?'_ She thought. For some reason the title was really easy for her to apply to Luffy. _'I'm really not sure what awaits me in the future, but seeing his determination and will, I'm sure that my life will become anything_ but_ normal.'_ And she didn't mind it in the slightest, not when she finally found the reason to draw her blade.

Until Coby informed her about Helmeppo's treachery, she couldn't quite place the feeling that was slowly but surely replacing the emptiness in her chest. But now she understood, now she _knew_ what she felt. It was something so simple, so basic that she actually felt stupid for not acknowledging it earlier.

Loneliness that was eating her away, sadness at the lack of purpose and bitterness at the feelings of hollow victories.

_'But not anymore.'_ She now had _it_. _'The reason to fight.'_

Luffy, no, her _Senchō_ actually stormed a Marine base to rescue her from being executed because of a blond bastard's treachery. He took bullets for her and didn't even flinched simply because he considered her his comrade, even if she didn't agree to be one yet. And he assaulted the son of the Marine Captain for his treachery, of which he didn't tell her because it didn't matter at that moment.

"Ehem, Senchō, I know that you're happy and all..." She actually smiled at his childish outburst. "... but can you please untie me first?"

* * *

"What _is_ that guy?" Mumbled one of the Marines in fear.

"Our bullets were useless!" Added another one.

"The guy with a straw-hat isn't a normal human." Said Morgan, finally overcoming his own shock. "It seams that he ate one of the **Akuma no Mi**."

"**Akuma no Mi**?" Asked one of the Marines near him.

"Treasure of the ocean?" Tried to confirm the other one.

Morgan, as any other Marine Captain was briefed about **Akuma no Mi**, their weaknesses and possible abilities of their users. He didn't bother to remember all the details, considering that it would have been almost an impossibility to meet someone who ate an **Akuma no Mi** here, in East Blue. The damn thing were _extremely_ rare and each one that was found by Marines was immediately categorized and sent to the Marineford, the Headquarters of the Marines to be presented to a worthy Marine upon his or her promotion to the Rank of a Commodore or higher.

"**Akuma no Mi**, it is said that whoever eats one will obtain an unbelievable power." Explained Morgan. "The power to breath fire... The power to create tsunami..." If the rumors were true, then this two abilities were actually quite real and belonged to a _very_ strong people. "There are many rumors about the **Akuma no Mi**, _too_ many to know which ones are actually true." He swallowed nervously. "The secret to this is supposedly hidden in the Grand Line." During the whole explanation Morgan didn't stop staring at the teen. "Without a doubt, that straw-hat's power is the power of the **Akuma no Mi**!"

He didn't remember much from the briefing, it was _years_ ago, but at least he could recall the three classes of the **Akuma no Mi**. This teen didn't seem wounded and considering that the bullets actually hit and penetrated his body he could only be **Logia**. Morgan knew, that even against the _weakest_ **Logia** he and his soldiers wouldn't stand a chance, they didn't have any **Kairōseki** with them to bind the damned brat and Morgan wasn't arrogant enough to think that he would be able to persuade him to jump into the ocean by himself.

Marine Captain's gaze shifted to the other two traitors.

_'The straw-hat may be invincible, but this two aren't.'_ He smirked. _'He will just intercept all our gunfire, so swords will be a better choice to kill these two while someone will retrieve the **Kairōseki**-cuffs.'_

* * *

Luffy didn't waste any time, as he pulled **Wadō Ichimonji** from its sheath and cut the ropes that were holding Tashigi's torso.

He could probably use his **Akuma no Mi** to free, but there was too high risk of a rope, post or Tashigi's clothes catching on fire, one lesson he learned when he was really young.

_"Luffy! You moron!"_

_"I'm sorry!"_

_"Who the hell tries to dry clothes with magma!?"_

Ace and Sabo, his two older brothers in all but blood, screamed at him for almost an hour for burning almost all of their clothes. How should he have known that wet clothes were so easily combustible when you put on overheated fist made of magma near them? At least Ace was able to save the outfits somewhat, if you forget about the holes with black scorched edges that were present all over them.

"It doesn't matter who he is, those who oppose me will be executed!" Luffy heard Morgan's voice as he cut the ropes holding Tashigi's left arm. "If your weapons doesn't work on him, aim for the other two traitors! They are just some brat and a half-dead girl, use your swords and cut them to pieces!"

The Marines drew their swords and charged.

"Luffy-san!" Screamed Coby as a Marine swung his sword at the boy.

_*Shink*_

The soldier suddenly stopped.

"Attacking an innocent boy?" A female voice rang from behind him. "You're pathetic."

Suddenly Marine's chest erupted in a fountain of blood and he fell down.

Behind him was standing Tashigi with **Shigure** in her right hand and its sheath tied to her left hip. Her glasses were now covering her eyes as she stood before the now motionless Marines. For them she was nothing but a blur, just barely visible as she appeared behind their comrade.

"You..." Growled Morgan.

* * *

Tashigi was feeling better than ever, like something that she didn't even _know_ she was missing and now was back in its place. Her heart was beating fast, her body wasn't feeling tired or sore, she could feel the warmth from before spreading through it and _energizing_ her.

"Anyone else?" She asked glaring at the group of soldiers. They paled and took a step back.

"I'm scared." Muttered one.

"I thought so." She lowered her sword slightly, but didn't drop her guard even for a moment.

"Whoa, cool!" Luffy had a big grin on his face. "I knew that you were strong."

"Thank you, Senchō." Said Tashigi with a warm smile, looking at Luffy over her shoulder. The happy expression on her face contradicted with the murderous one that she had a moment ago. "Anytime." She added as she turned back to the soldiers and her face again became serious.

_'Up until this moment I trained only to be strong enough to survive, to not let my skills rust and my blade become dull.'_ Thought Tashigi and her grip on **Shigure** tightened. _'But now, it won't be enough. __Senchō_ wants to become the Pirate King, and after what he did for me today, I refuse to let him down simply because I wasn't strong or skilled enough.' From the corner of her eye she saw smiling Luffy, who was standing near the crucifix with his arms crossed over his chest. The warmth in her chest became stronger, her resolve solidified and became harder than steel. _'I _will_ become stronger, if the need will arise I will even surpass the greatest swordsmen in the world, but I _won't_ fail him!'_

A blade drawn without purpose will be broken easily.

A strike delivered without a will behind it won't be able to reach its target.

A swordsman without a reason to fight will always wield a dull blade, no matter how much time he or she will try to sharpen it.

For the first time in her life Tashigi felt the fire of determination ignited in her heart. Right now, even a stick in her hands would be equal to a sharpest blade when compared to the swords held in Marines' hands. A blade drawn with a purpose, a blade in which you channel you will, hopes and desires, a blade that is not just a tool but a way to reach you goal _would never be defeated_!

"Why are you all just standing there?!" Roared Morgan. "Execute her right now!"

Tashigi looked at Luffy again.

"Senchō, do you mind if I'll take them all out?" She asked.

Even if it was a bit childish, she just wanted to prove herself to him, to show him just how strong she was and her resolve to fight for him. Tashigi never care about anyone's opinion, they could look down and underestimate her all they want, it didn't matter in the end. But right now, for the reason that even she didn't know, one person's opinion became important to her, the opinion of the person that helped her find her reason to fight, her new Senchō.

"Sure." He nodded at her.

That was all she needed.

She spun her sword in a reverse grip and positioned in front of her while crouching a little bit with her left leg being put slightly forward. She really didn't need to actually utilize any technique to defeat this goons but, even if it was a bit childish, she wanted to make a good first impression on her Senchō.

[**Ittōryū: _Akisame Buyō_**]

She blurred forward, with only Luffy being able to see her movements, and he was _really_ impressed! Basically, she was spinning while moving forward and not crashing into anyone, each of her movements delivered a nasty slash to nearby opponent. The movements of her feet actually made it look like she was _dancing_ around her targets, not even once missing a step.

She appeared behind them while crouching and holding **Shigure** in her outstretched right hand.

_'Damn, this took a lot more out of me than it should have.'_ Thought Tashigi panting slightly.

Normally this technique wouldn't even strain her, but after three weeks of being tied up and beaten without any proper food or water to provide her with energy, she was currently running on fumes and pure willpower, and the last stunt took _a lot_ of both to perform.

* * *

"Alright!" Exclaimed Coby. "Amazing!"

"What... _What_ was _that_?" Asked one of the Marines standing next to Morgan.

"She defeated them all without even breaking a sweat!" Added another.

Morgan was now practically _boiling_ with rage, his useless subordinates couldn't even defeat a _half-dead starved girl_! The ones that right now were lying on the ground will be executed, he would make _sure_ of it! Being defeated by treacherous trash was _treason_ and therefore they would die as any other traitor who decided to oppose him!

Marine Captain was too emotional at the moment to thing rationally, and therefore couldn't comprehend the simple fact that even in her weaken state Tashigi was _leagues_ above any normal Marine grunt in skill department. The battle was lost before it even started. But right now his rage-clouded mind could only understand that _anyone_ who opposed him or couldn't follow his orders, no matter how _impossible_ to accomplish they were, were _traitors_ and _traitors_ must be executed!

"Captain! We're no match for her!" Said one of the Marines that didn't attacked and stayed near Morgan. "We can't do it!"

This was the _wrong_ thing to say, as the statement itself became the last straw for the Captain.

"This is the Captain's order!" Growled Morgan darkly, his voice filled with pure rage. "Those can't follow it shot yourselves in the head!" He roared at his subordinates. "This military officer doesn't need weaklings like you!"

* * *

Tashigi was shocked by the fact that Morgan actually gave such an order! It was utterly despicable!

_'How can he make them commit suicide?!'_ She gritted her teeth in anger.

Another reason that she agreed to join her new Senchō was because of what he had done not long ago. He put himself to protect her, to make sure that she wouldn't be harmed while she didn't have the ability to fight back. Any lesser man would've just let her die, simply returning for his search for a new crew-members.

What Morgan said, what he _ordered_ them to do was something she couldn't even start to understand, _refused_ to understand!

Without missing a bit she shot forward with an incredible speed, her sword once more held in a proper position and already moving to cut into Captain's chest.

_*Clang*_

But Morgan wasn't a Captain for nothing, he was able to lift his axe to block Tashigi's attack, at least she was satisfied to see a slight strain on his face from doing it. She jumped back and landed a couple of meters in front of him, straightening herself she glared at the tall man.

"A civilian with no Rank is no match for me!" Roared Morgan removing his coat and throwing it away. "I am the Captain of the Marines!" Tashigi could see an unhealthy glint in his eyes, apparently the last couple of hours made the arrogant Marine finally snap. "Axe-Hand Morgan!" Without even pausing he lunged at Tashigi, swinging his axe with enough force to actually bisect any normal person.

Tashigi wasn't normal by any means, without even blinking she jumped up and over the enraged Captain, landing behind his back. Morgan saw it and turned around with speed far greater than a man of his size should possess. Delivering a vertical strike right at his opponents hear, he put every ounce of strength in one chop of his axe.

_*Crash*_

Tashigi once more avoided his attack by sidestepping it, the edge of the axe impacted the earth, splitting it apart and creating a small canyon in it. This was an opening that Tashigi was waiting for.

_*Shink*_

With one fast slash of he sword she created a deep gash on Morgan's right side, blood erupted from the wound and painted the earth red. The wound itself wasn't lethal for a man of Captain's size, but it still _hurt_ quite a lot! Morgan wasn't able to keep his balance with his arm outstretched and a painful shock from his wound, he collapsed forward, barely having time to support himself with his left hand so not to kiss the ground.

Tashigi wasn't really trying to defeat Morgan by the '_thousand paper cuts_', she simply was in any shape to put him down with one overpowering strike at the moment.

"Wh... What's going on?" She heard Marines muttering behind her back.

She was really glad that they didn't try to interfere, facing against Morgan _and_ his goons in her current condition would've been _troublesome_.

"Bitch!" Growled Captain, pulling himself back on his feet and raising his axe for another powerful vertical strike. "Die!"

_*Crash*_

Tashigi again sidestepped hi attack, but this time to the right. Seeing another opening she jumped forward...

_*Shink*_

... cutting deeply into Morgan's left shoulder.

"Argh!" Morgan let out a grunt a pain and feel forward face-first on the ground, this wound was deeper than the first one and left his left arm almost useless.

"Captain Morgan..." Mumbled on of the still conscious Marines. "... is no match for her!"

Tashigi didn't even look back at him, her attention was solely on one person whose opinion really mattered, her Senchō. He was standing there, with a grin on his face.

"Awesome job, Tashigi!" She couldn't help by smile back at him.

_'Why is Helmeppo lying there?'_ She blinked a couple of times, seeing Morgan's son unconscious on the ground behind her Senchō.

* * *

Luffy was watching how Tashigi was easily beating Morgan, who didn't even come _close_ to landing a hit on her. Luffy actually wanted to beat them all up by himself, but when he saw the look Tashigi sent him, he couldn't deny her this fight. He actually knew this look very well, it was the same look that he had when he was younger and wanted to impress Shanks so the pirate would take him on a journey.

Tashigi wanted to prove herself to him. Luffy didn't see the point in it because she already proved herself to him, she had a very good look in her eyes when she agreed to join his crew. He didn't like to complicate things more it's absolutely needed, but even he could understand that he First Mate was trying to prove it to herself that she was good enough to join him.

_'And I still fail to see the reason for it.' _He thought to himself. _'It's really hard to understand girls.'_ He sighed. _'Makino was confusing enough with her strange joke about girls chasing me, or me being an adorable magnet... I really didn't get what she was talking about, I mean, Marines got girls in their ranks and there is female pirates, so of course they would be chasing me, the former to arrest and the later to rob and kill.'_ Luffy's left eye twitched. _'And when I told her that she gained that strange scary expression on her face with that creepy smile and told me to stay such adorably clueless as long as I could! What did she mean by that?! She was scarier than Gramps when he's angry!'_

He wasn't able to finish the thought because form the corner of his eye he noticed Helmeppo trying and _failing_ to sneak up on Luffy and Coby with a pistol in his hand. You didn't need to be a genius to understand just _what_ he was trying to pull and considering that it won't work on Luffy, his target was probably Coby.

_'Is he serious?'_ Luffy really wasn't impressed with the blond. _'And people call_ me_ stupid.'_

Without taking his eyes from the fight between Tashigi and Morgan Luffy moved to the right and...

_*Bam*_

... delivered a devastating punch on top of Helmeppo's head, effectively knocking the moron out. With the annoyance being removed he returned his full attention to the fight, which was already basically over, Morgan was on the ground a bleeding while Tashigi was looking at Luffy.

"Awesome job, Tashigi!" He congratulated her.

Luffy didn't know whatever it was his imagination or it actually happened, but he could've swear that Tashigi puffed her chest in pride a little.

* * *

Tashigi started walking towards her Senchō while returning Shigure back into its sheath. All things consider this wasn't even in top ten of the hardest fights she had been in, even being weakened and basically running on fumes she was still strong enough to put down someone like Morgan without any trouble.

Slight pain in her chest reminded her that she really needed a change in her wardrobe, using bandages to bind her chest maybe made it easier to fight, but the pain from a prolonged use made it pretty pointless in the long run. Considering that she was stuck with it for almost a month she was actually considering cutting it off right here right now.

Suddenly she felt a slight chill down her spine. All experienced fighters with time develop some form of a six-sense or _danger-sense_ as some people like to call it, and right now hers was ringing all bells, making her prepare to dodge...

"I am the Captain of the Marines, Axe-Hand Morgan!" Roared Morgan from behind her.

She barely resisted the urge to facepalm. It was a total mystery to her how the heel this moron was able to sneak up upon her, he was injured and absolutely furious and he managed to actually almost get a drop upon her! If he actually managed to do it she wouldn't be able to live with such a shame.

_'And who is actually dumb enough to scream while trying to attack someone from behind?'_ She could only sigh.

She could tell from the whistling sound of air being cut by a sharp edge when the Captain tried to attack her with his axe.

[**Ittōryū: _Kiri Shigure_**]

She appeared behind Morgan holding her Shigure with two hands over her back.

Morgan stood still for a moment, frozen in a position with his ax almost reaching the place where Tashigi's head was a couple of moments ago. Suddenly a long deep gash appeared on his chest with blood spraying out all over the ground in font of him and a little bit even leaking from his mouth. Captain's eyes rolled back and he collapsed on the ground unconscious.

"Nice, Tashigi." She heard her Senchō congratulate her for the second time in this battle.

She turned towards him.

"It was nothing, Senchō." She said with a smile, while sheathing her sword.

"They defeated Captain Morgan!" One Marine that was till conscious exclaimed.

"I can't believe it!" Added another one.

"Who are they?" Third one called out.

Tashigi looked over the Marines, about six or seven of them were capable to fight, while others could barely stay awake. She never removed her hand from **Shigure**'s handle.

"If anyone else wants to fight, come now!" She said loud enough for them to hear.

She still had some fight in her, and Senchō was fresh and full of energy so there was no way this little band of Marines would emerge victorious from the battle. They exchanged looks and suddenly... _cheered_?

"Alright!"

"We did it!"

"Yahoo!"

They were cheering, dancing, throwing their weapons and caps in the air...

"Banzai!"

Some were even hugging each other.

_'I lost the plot here.'_ Sweatdropped Tashigi.

"What the...? Their Captain was just defeated and they are... _celebrating_?" Muttered Luffy with a raised eyebrow.

"It's because everyone was afraid of Captain Morgan!" Answered Coby.

Tashigi suddenly remembered a very important fact, she she collapsed backwards on the ground.

"What the matter, Tashigi-san?!" Coby ran up to her. "Are you injured?"

It was really embarrassing for her, considering that she just collapsed in front of her Senchō...

_*Gurgle*_

"Hungry..." She groaned.

* * *

"Sorry." Said the already familiar orange-haired girl as she made sure that the two Marines were tied up wouldn't escape or make too much noise. "Just hang in there for a bit."

She was in the Captain Morgan's office, searching for a particular item. When she first came here she was horrified as she saw the biggest safe in the room _melted_ open! Even the edges of the hole were still red-hot! At least the smaller one was untouched and she was really pleased to find that it contained money.

_'Not this thing that I was looking for, but 378.000฿ is a nice compensation for whatever was in the big one.'_ She thought with a smile as she hid the money in her special pouch.

But money wasn't the reason that she came here, so she kept searching. After about fifteen minutes she found several bottles of cheap wine, a box of cigars, some documents that were useless to her, some fake jewels and... even _more_ cheap wine. Finally, after she checked the table for any hidden compartments she noticed _another_ safe poorly hidden behind the barrels in the corner.

After moving the surprisingly _heavy_ barrels out of the way she tried to open the safe.

_'... What?'_ Her heart almost stopped when she noticed that it wasn't locked.

If someone got here faster than her then they could have taken _it_, and all of her efforts were for nothing. She released a sigh of relief when she noticed a rolled up piece of paper lying inside.

"There it is!" She muttered to herself with a smile. "The map of Grand Line! I knew he had it!" She took the map and unrolled it.

But instead of a map she found a familiar mark of a skull-and-crossbones, with the unique feature of a large red clowns nose, and black crosses on the eye sockets. There also was a message written for whoever owed the map before.

{**_I Have Finally Found The Map_**}

{~**_Captain Buggy._**}

"Th... This isn't the map!" She was shocked. "It's the mark..." She really didn't like the implications of this. "Captain Buggy."

_'He is also called Heartless Buggy.'_ She thought with a shudder. Suddenly something flashed in her eyes and she crushed the piece of paper in her hand, her eyes burning with determination. _'It doesn't really matter, does it?'_

* * *

"I'm full." Said Tashigi with a smile. "This meal was worth not eating for three weeks." Her words caused laughter from Rika, her mother and Coby.

After three portions she was finally full and well rested. She was actually happy that she removed the binding on her chest earlier, or they would have painfully cut into skin. She really didn't know why most girls wanted big breasts, her high C-Cup were more of hindrance than anything else, she could really do _without_ those lecherous stares that she received while walking towards the tavern.

_'Perverts...' _Thought Tashigi to herself.

"I'm too!" Said Luffy, finishing his fifth portion.

"Senchō, I still don't understand how could you eat more than me." She was really surprised just _how_ much her Senchō could consume during one meal.

"Because it's tasty..." He said while take a good swing from the mug. "Right, Coby?"

The pink-haired boy only smiled sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, I helped myself too." He said while rubbing the back of his head.

"It's alright, you helped save our town after all!" Ririka, Rika's mother just waved him off with a smile.

"You were amazing back there!" Said Rika to Tashigi while refiling swordswoman's glass.

"Thank you." Answered Tashigi with a light blush, not used to being prised so openly. "But if it wasn't for Senchō, me and Coby would have been dead. I still can't believe that he stormed the whole base by himself."

"Yeah, I'm great!" Said Luffy with a smile, there wasn't any arrogance in his statement, he was just playing along. "And I'll become even greater! I'm gonna become the Pirate King!" He finished he drink in one big gulp and looked at Tashigi. "I found myself a First Mate too!"

_'And the warm feeling is back.' _Thought Tashigi with a smile. Then a thought crossed her mind. _'Actually, if Senchō is aiming that high then he will need a strong crew and a very good ship to sail through the Grand Line.'_ She never visited the legendary sea, but heard enough horror stories about it to know just _how_ dangerous it was. _'And he said that I was his First Mate.'_ She knew that being in such a high position, second only to Senchō, she would be responsible for the whole crew in Senchō's absence.

"Senchō, out of curiosity, just how many shipmates do we have?" She asked him. When he looked at her with a raised eyebrow she clarified. "You earlier said that you were looking for a crew members. With an ambition as big as yours you must already have a strong crew."

Senchō smiled at her.

"Nope, just you." He said simply.

Tashigi's jaw dropped, desperately waiting for him to say that it was a joke.

"Wha..." She regained her ability to speak. "Then?" She pointed at herself and him.

"Yep, us two." He nodded with a smile.

_'He's serious?!'_ She thought.

"Sir, if you want to reach your goal then you'll need a very strong crew!" She said heatedly.

"What does it matter? We're strong." Answered Senchō.

Tashigi could only sigh. While Senchō was somewhat _right_, by the standards of the East Blue they _were_ pretty strong, they would be eaten alive in the first _ten minutes_ after they will step on the Grand Line.

"What about our ship, sir?" She asked without any actual hope in her voice.

"It's over there." Senchō pointed outside through the window where Tashigi could see a small boat with one mast and sail floating near the pier.

"That?" Muttered Tashigi, not impressed with a small vessel.

_'Is that dog taking a leak on it?'_ Her left eyes twitched.

"It's small _now_, but in the future I'm planning on getting a _really_ big one!" Said Luffy.

"Senchō..." Muttered Tashigi in defeat.

She could respect his optimism, but the lack of an actual plan was something that she would need to correct. Getting a good ship and enough supplies wasn't _that_ hard, they would probably need money first. She _knew_ that her Senchō wouldn't just rob innocent civilians, she could see it in his eyes, she was against it too considering that it went against her own morals. The only other ways were for them to either rob some other pirate crew or work for it.

The first option was far more suitable for their situation, considering that as soon as people will know that they are pirates there would be no way someone would hire them.

"Also I want a pirate flag!" Said Senchō with a dreamy smile.

"Luffy-san was born without the ability to plan things ahead." Said Coby with sheepish smile.

"Oh, don't worry, will get a bigger ship and more comrades as we go along." Senchō waved Coby off.

"Hey, hey..." Called Rika, making him look at her. "Where are you guys going now?"

"That's obvious." Tashigi already knew his answer. "We're going to the Grand Line!" He didn't disappoint her.

The last statement made Tashigi sigh and Coby make an impressive imitation of a fountain with juice that he was drinking instead of water.

"With just the two of you?!" Coby explained, orange juice running down from his mouth and nose. "No matter what, that's impossible! Impossible, impossible, impossible!"

"Is the Grand Line really _that_ dangerous?" Asked Rika.

"Of course it is!" Answered the pink-haired boy cleaning his face with a napkin. "You know that there is two oceans in this world, right? The stretch of land in between the two oceans is called the Red Line. There is a road in the center of the Red Line, that road is aligned with the Red Line..." He gulped. "... that is the Grand Line." He voice dropped to almost a whisper, but somehow everyone was still able to hear him. "A long time ago, the Pirate King, Gold Roger, obtained everything in the world. It is said that he left his greatest treasure, One Piece, in the Grand Line..." Tashigi was sure, that if Coby wouldn't became a Marine, he would make a pretty good storyteller. "And that's why hordes of pirates flocked to the Grand Line. Now, the place is a battlefield. It's also known as the _Graveyard of Pirates_." His lips were trembling from emotions he put into his speech.

"I heard from a costumer that people who enters Grand Line never came back." Said Ririka.

The atmosphere in the tavern become gloom and slightly depressing. Tashigi didn't really think much of it, but even she could see that the light inside the building became _dimmer_, for the lack of better word.

"But One Piece is there somewhere, so we'll have to go!" Said Senchō without any hesitation.

Tashigi felt her smile return from his words. Senchō's burning conviction and will were two of the main reasons that she joined him.

"Well, I guess we have no choice then." She said with a smile.

"Tashigi-san, you too?" Exclaimed Coby, jumping down from his bar-chair.

"Stop worrying so much please, you aren't even going and you're more nervous than me and Senchō _combined_." Tashigi couldn't help bu chuckle at the kids attitude.

"Even thought I'm not going, I' worried!" He looked so torn... "I can't just... Because me and Luffy-san are friends, even though we just met, right?" The word he addressed to Senchō, who just grinned at him.

"Yep! We're parting ways, but we'll always be friends!" His answer made Coby smile.

"When I was little, I never had any friends." Coby lowered his had a little and his smile turned a bit melancholic. "Nobody stood up for me and I never stood up for myself..." He looked at the two pirates with determination burning in his eyes. "But because of both of you, I've learned to strive for my own goals! I'm going to make my childhood dream come true! I will become a Marine!"

"We really appreciate your gratitude, but you really should worry about yourself first." Said Tashigi seriously. Coby just watched at her questioningly. "Even thought you were forced in it, you still served under the pirate, Alvida." Senchō told her all about his meeting with Coby, and the kid's circumstances. "Don't underestimate the Marines' information intelligence. When they'll find out, you won't be able to join."

Tashigi didn't want to sound cruel, but the kid needed to hear the truth.

"Speaking of which..." Said Coby, looking at the tavern's door.

"Excuse me." Said a voice from said door.

* * *

Luffy turned around and looked at the Marine that entered the tavern, with the rest of them standing outside. This one was actually different from the others because his tie was green instead of blue. The Maine walked up to their table and looked at Luffy.

"Is it true that you guys are pirates?"

"Yup, and I just found a new comrade." Answered Luffy with a grin. "We _are_ pirates!"

Marine looked at him for a moment, as if measuring him.

"We are very grateful that you saved us from the clutches of Morgan." Even Luffy could hear sincerity in his words. "However, now that we know you're pirates, we can't look the other way." He said why fingering the peak of his cap. "You must leave this town immediately! We own you own lives, so we will not contact Headquarters."

"Hey, Marine!" Screamed one of the citizens of the town, that arrived to see their saviors. "What the hell are you talking about? You guys were also controlled by Morgan!"

"Those guys saved all of our lives!" Added a woman nearby.

"Right, right!" Came the support from the crowd.

Luffy looked at the gathering of people in front of him. He could see that the fight was going to start, civilians versus Marines, and he _really_ didn't want to become the reason for it. He was a pirate, but he was also a person with a strong set of morals, and hurting innocents, even not directly, was one of the things he didn't want to do.

"Well, shall we go?" Luffy asked with a smile as he stood up. "Thanks for the food, Oba-san!" He said to Ririka.

"Are you guys leaving already?" Asked Rika in a sad tone.

Luffy only nodded and picked up the bag with food that Ririka gave them for the road. Tashigi was not far behind, picking up both of her swords and walking towards the exit.

* * *

"Just a minute, is he with you?" Asked the leading Marine, while pointing at Coby.

Luffy and Tashigi stopped.

"Nope." Said Luffy, half-turning toward the Marine. "But I _do_ know some interesting things about him."

_'Luffy-san, you wouldn't!' _Said Coby as a chill ran down his spine.

"There was this overweighted whale-shaped pirate-hag!" Started explaining Luffy.

"Luffy-san!" Muttered Coby in horror. _'If they found out I was on a pirate ship, I wouldn't be able to join the Marines!'_ He thought in desperation.

"She had this big club..." Luffy was still talking with a smile on his face. "She was one ugly-looking old whale!" Luffy walked up to Coby and started poking him in the side of his head. "This squirt here was her cabin-boy for two whole years!"

_'Please stop!'_ Thought Coby, but on his face could be seen the traces of anger. _'__Luffy-san!' _He couldn't take it anymore and punched Luffy in the cheek.

Normally, if Luffy wasn't aiming for this effect, and someone tried to punch him without any form of protection, the attacker would be missing a hand or even a good portion of his or her arm. Shoving your hand into _hot magma_ was one of the things that even a _retarded_ person knew would hurt, _a lot_! Coby was lucky that Luffy held back his reflex and didn't activate the power of his **Akuma no Mi**.

Everyone looked at what happened in shock.

Tashigi, who was standing near the door, smiled a little.

Coby looked at his fist in shock.

"Now you did it, bastard!" He didn't have enough time to comprehend just _what_ did he do because Luffy's fist impacted his face.

"You bastard!" Screamed Coby, shaking off the dizziness from the punch and delivering his own counterattack.

The situation degenerated into a fistfight pretty quickly, the screams 'You Bastard' could be heard coming from both combatants. The fight itself wasn't as fierce as it appeared to be, considering that Luffy barely felt anything from Coby's punches. Soon their brawl made the nearby dishes fall down from their places and break, covering the floor in sharp shards of glass.

"Stop this at once!" Roared the Marine. "I will not allow you to disturb the piece of this town!"

"Senchō, I think that would be enough." Said Tashigi, who appeared behind Luffy. "Don't overdo it."

Coby, being left without a reason to stand, and with only adrenalin keeping him upright just fell backwards on the floor while breathing heavily.

"It's clear that he isn't with you!" Said the Marine. "Leave our town, _now_!"

Luffy just smirked and adjusted his hat on his head, dusted off his suit and coat and walked away with Tashigi in tow.

_'On purpose...'_ Thought Coby still lying on the floor. _'__He did that on purpose...'_ After adrenalin left his system somewhat and he was able to think more clearly, Coby understood _what_ just happened. _'For my sake... He made me punch him on purpose!' _He gritted his teeth. _'I... received help from him even at the very end!'_ He had to hold back tears. _'Nothing has changed at all... Am I stupid?'_

Ignoring pain, fatigue and a couple of pretty decent bruises that Luffy gave him, Coby _forced_ himself to get back up on his feet.

"I want to..." He started, catching his breath and getting Marines' attention. "I want to join the Marines! I'll do anything you want..." He bowed to them. "... to become a Marine!" The fire of determination was burning in his eyes.

The Maine in charged stared at the boy, as if measuring him.

"Commander!" Said one of the Marines behind him. "I'm against it! I can't trust this boy yet. It's possible that he's a spy for the pirates." He then looked directly at Coby. "First, we have to run a background check on you."

"I sincerely want to become a Marine!" Exclaimed Coby straitening.

The leader of Marines just grunted and looked Coby directly in the eyes.

"We have lost many Marines to the pirates." He said, walking past Coby. "The life of a Marine is not an easy one."

"Then?" Whispered Coby.

"Permission on joining, granted!" Said the Marine.

Coby turned around to look at him with the biggest smile on his face.

"Yes, Sir!" The pink-haired body saluted.

* * *

In the dock a familiar orange haired girl could be seen preparing her boat for departure. She took one last look at the piece of paper she found in the save before crumbling it.

* * *

"This was very nice of you, Senchō." Said Tashigi as she and Luffy walked towards the docks. "But don't you think they will figure it out though?"

"I'm sure Coby can handle the rest." Answered Luffy with a smile. _'And I really hope Gramps won't find out about this, or he'll personally drag me to the nearest Marine base to be enlisted.'_

"Still, it was an interesting little adventure." Said Tashigi. "But from now on everyone will hate us." She smiled wistfully. "Such is pirate's life."

They both boarded the small boat and was preparing for departure.

"Right." Laughed Luffy while untying the boat.

"Luffy-san!" The two pirates turned to look at the source of the voice. Coby was standing on the pier with Rika and Ririka near him. "Thank you very much!" He saluted. "This Marine will never forget you!"

_'So you succeeded, eh?'_ Thought Luffy with a smile.

"It's the first time I see a Marine thanking a pirate." Said Tashigi with a smile while Luffy just laughed.

Their sail was raised and the boat started moving towards the sea.

* * *

"We'll meet again, Coby!" Screamed Luffy.

"Luffy-san..." Muttered Coby.

"Goodbye, Onii-chan, Onee-chan!" Called Rika.

"Everyone, salute!" Said the Marine in charge, making the whole group of Marines salute the departing pirates.

_How_ they were able to get behind Coby, Rika and Ririka without them noticing was a mystery.

"See ya!" Waved Luffy.

"You have a great friend there." Coby looked up and saw Commander smiling at him.

"Yes, sir!" Said the boy with tears in his eyes.

"What we're doing is against the code of the Marines! Out punishment is no food for three days! Understood?" Called the Commander.

"Yes, sir!" Was the answer.

_'Someday...' _Thought Coby. _'Someday we will meet again, Luffy-san! As pirates and a Marines... Someday, we will meet again!'_

* * *

"Well, now we're well on our way to becoming pirates!" Said Senchō with a smile while standing on the bow.

"Looks like in will one hell of an adventure, right, Senchō?" Tashigi grinned while resting against the side of the boat.

"I will become the Pirate King!" Said Senchō with his own grin.

"Senchō, you always talk about becoming the Pirate King, do you have a particular reason for it?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Nope, nor reason." He answered. "But..."

"But?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I made a vow... to _that _man." Explained Senchō. "To form an amazing crew... To find the world's greatest treasure... And become the Pirate King!" He smile and adjust his hat on his head and smirked. "This straw-hat knows it all!"

_'The straw-hat?' _She looked at it and then understood.

"I see." She knew that she would never regret following this man, not in the slightest.

_'The man with an impossible dream...'_ She gripped **Shigure**'s handle tightly. _'Thank you, Senchō, for helping me find _it_.'_

"Alright, lets go!" Screamed Senchō. "Grand Line... Here I come!"

* * *

**Techniques used in the chapter:**

**-Tashigi:**

******Ittōryū: _Akisame Buyō_** - One Sword Style: _Autumn Rain Dance_

******Ittōryū: _Kiri Shigure_** - **One Sword Style: _Cut Autumn Rain_**

* * *

******Straw-Hat Pirates:**

******Position: **Captain

**Name: **Monkey D. Luffy

**Epithet:** None

**Age: **17

**Specialization: **Hand-to-Hand Combat

**Weapon: **None

**Devil Fruit: **Magu Magu no Mi

**Haki: **None

**Bounty: **0 ฿

**-=(*[]*[]*)=-**

******Position: **First Mate

**Name: **Tashigi

**Epithet:** None

**Age: **21

**Specialization: **Swordsmanship

**Weapon: **Shigure(Katana - Wazamono Grade)

**Devil Fruit: **None

**Haki: **None

**Bounty: **0 ฿

* * *

**Well, here is the End of the Romance Dawn Arc. I hope you'll it!**

**Alright, about Tashigi and her level of strength. Yes, she is stronger than in Canon, considering that she didn't spend most of her time pushing papers or dreaming about swords, but actually travelled and fought she gained experience and power. I know that I'm not very good with coming up with Techniques, so I want you honest opinion about her new one. And I mean it, honest!**

**About Luffy... Well, he didn't beat up Morgan because he saw that Tashigi needed it more. As I already said earlier, he is somewhat smarter than in Canon, but bot by much.**

**One more thing! This story now officially have a Forum Topic on My Forum(You can find the Link in my Profile), so join the discussion, ask question and so on!**

**As Always, I'm waiting for your Reviews, Criticism, Questions and Suggestions!**


	4. Ch4: General of the Sea!

**I don't own One-Piece, it's belongs to Eiichiro Oda.**

**Hello everyone! I'm back with a new Chapter, have fun!**

* * *

**Lightningblade49: 1) I would have been disappointed if you didn't. 2) Oh, you'll just have to wait to find out!**

**serpentguy: 1) Believe me, there will be a lot! (2) It's not 'instant loyalty', it's just that she was in a state of shock and reacted too emotionally with her half-baked from hunger and sun brain. (3) Ehh, nobody saw the joke... (4) I hope you'll like it! (5) Care to try and guess at least two of them?**

**iiILurvePancakesii: Nothing beats classic! Thank you!**

**Treetho: Well, here you go!**

**Apok:Well, I'm trying to be original! And thank you for reading!  
**

**NAFNAF509: Thank you, I will! And here is another one!**

**Uranos: (1) Thank you! And his problems will be a tad bit different, but still funny! (2) Also, did you noticed that no one actually came into direct contact with his magma, right? Luffy isn't a monster or a sociopath so he won't kill people for shit and giggles and therefore you can say that he's holding back.**

**bloodyrose: Thank you, come again!  
**

**mlkoolc86: Oh, there will be a lot of them, don't worry, you'll just have to wait and see!**

**Lord-of Oceans-Poseidon: Glad you liked it! Here you go!**

**OnePieceFan2: 1) Well, she was proving herself to herself actually, but you got the point. 2) Rear and Review!**

**R .D. T: Well, the Magu Magu no Mi was an old idea of mine and I was able to properly give it life only now. Also Luffy is not that much smarter than he was in the Canon, but still noticeable. Thank you again for reading and Reviewing!**

**Selias: Thanks!**

* * *

**Chapter 004: General of the Sea!**

* * *

"Three-hundred-seventy-two..." Senchō was balancing on the top of the only mast of their little boat and doing push-up on his right hand.

It was five days since they left Shells Town and Tashigi was pretty sure that soon they will see an island on the horizon. She already finished with her own daily routine and was now reading the little book that Senchō _liberated_ from Morgan's safe-box.

_'Incredible!'_ She was reading only the into but she already could see just how useful this little book will be in the future! _'Who could have thought that Morgan had such a treasure in his possession? And considering that I didn't see him doing _anything_ that is described here I can only guess that he was either too weak and wasn't able to learn anything or too arrogant to actually open it and read it.'_ Tashigi was really questioning how the man made it to the Rank of a Captain with such an attitude.

The book in her hands was labeled **Rokushiki**. A damn whole style of Martial Art that was specifically developed to combat an opponents that a far above any normal human. Tashigi knew that she floating somewhere at the bottom of the World's food-chain, someone like Edward '**Whitebeard**' Newgate or Sengoku '**The Buddha**' would make her keel over by just _sneezing_ at her too strongly, and she wasn't bothered but it even in slightest. They had years of experience on her and much more brutal training regime that she simply didn't need up until this moment.

She knew that her Senchō was strong, and that without taking his **Akuma no Mi **into account. Tashigi wasn't very well informed about this particular set of oceans' treasures, but from what she was able to put together Luffy ate a **Logia**, turning him into a specific breed of super-humans that mostly could be only met further into Grand Line, and _that_ was a big exaggeration. She couldn't even _dream_ about meeting someone with such a powerful ability and not even in her wildest dreams she imagined herself becoming a _Pirate_ of all things!

Right now Tashigi could still feel the burn in her muscles that were screaming bloody murder not so long ago because of her new and far more brutal training regime that made it actually painful for her to even move after the first session. She knew that with an insane dream like her Senchō's they would be facing some serious competition and opposition in the near future. Marines and World Government would sooner issue pink as their new color and tutus as a uniform than let another Gol D. Roger happen, one was more than enough. If a Rookie with enough power and a big enough ambition will appear they would through their best at him or her and wait from bodies to start floating belly-up in a lake of blood, they wouldn't be able to afford to leave it to chance. So Tashigi needed to become stronger, _a lot_ stronger if what she heard about the first part of the Grand Line was even remotely true.

Push-ups, sit-ups, several thousands swings of her sword, she really needed to buy some weights so her work-outs would be more effective. She looked through the book in her hands and knew that she would need to leave any doubts behind and just work hard to achieve a level where she would be able to perform at least _one_ of the techniques described in the book.

She already shared her concerns with Senchō and he agreed that they would need to be stronger to face someone who would be able to perform the utterly _inhuman_ techniques described in the book. Normal, _ordinary_ humans just weren't tough enough to survive even the beginning of the Grand Line, so they would be to literally surpass their own limits and become far more than just ordinary people.

* * *

"Wah, that was tiresome..." Said Luffy as he landed near Tashigi after his five-hundred's push-up on one hand while balancing on the mast.

On thing that Gramps made absolutely clear and literally drilled into Luffy's head was the importance of always keeping himself in shape. Well, it wasn't actually an argument or something, it was just that whenever Luffy would complain about the harsh treatment...

_"What did you just say you little shit?!"_

_"I'm sorry!"_

_[******Ai aru Kobushi**]_

Even now Luffy shuddered still haunted by Gramps' fists. He still couldn't understand how the hell did his grandpa was able to actually physically hit him _without_ loosing his hand in the process and Luffy actually _feeling_ the punch. He actually once thought about it so hard his head started hurting, but he still couldn't explain why the hell did Gramps' attacks bypassed his **Logia**-defense.

"Damn, and now I'm hungry..." He groaned. Due to his **Akuma no Mi** his body-temperature and metabolism were higher and faster respectably than any normal person's and with his normal training regime he usually ate at least five full meals a day and still had room for more at the end. "Tashigi, is there anything we have to eat?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Senchō, but you ate the last apples we had." She said with a sigh and put her book in the pocket of her coat. "I took enough food that we should have lasted at least a _week_, but obviously I was wrong. Considering our daily routine..." She trailed off, but the meaning was pretty obvious.

Luffy groaned again. His insane to normal people training regime was one thing that he was really afraid of breaking, considering that the old fart would somehow find out that he skipped on his training and Luffy wasn't very eager to receive another _'disciplinary lectures'_ from Gramps, he couldn't even _think_ right after his first and last one of those, too much brain-damage in one go. At least Luffy got better and learned something new!

_'I learned that Gramps doesn't like when someone ignores him...'_ Luffy shuddered again from the traumatizing memory.

"Why can't food just fall from the sky?" He knew he was whining too much in this situation, but he honestly was too hungry to care.

_*Whiiiiiieeeeuuu*_

Suddenly he heard a very familiar noise. It was a tad bit different from the normal one that he was used to, but close enough for his body to react accordingly.

_"Today Luffy, we will be learning how to dodge!" Barked Garp with a wide smile._

_"But Gramps...!" Whined eleven-years-old Luffy._

_"No_ 'buts'_!_" _Barked the old man, carrying a whole basket full of baseball balls. "Now go over there and be ready!"_

_Luffy obeyed while grumbling about harsh treatment._

_"I don't understand how it will help me! They will just burn to ashes from contact with my body!" He tried again._

_Then he noticed that Garp was smirking, which was a sight of something bad about to happen.  
_

_Before Luffy was able to protest..._

_[****__Genkotsu Meteo_]

_"Aaaaargh!" Luffy screamed as the small ball impacted his chest, sending him flying backwards._

Luffy saw enough times how Gramps used this move with cannonballs instead of baseball balls, and the sound was different, but close enough for him to recognize. Tashigi was on her feet at the same time as he, but still not quite understanding what was happening. One good thing that he learned from that training with the old fart, well except that people _can_ develop a phobia of baseball balls, is that when you can't dodge...

Luffy spun around a looked at the direction of the noise. He couldn't quite make out the coming object, but he knew that it was coming their way and _very_ fast. Without even thinking twice he pulled his right hand back a let it transform into magma, increasing its size several times over.

[**Funka**]

He launched his fist forward with an impressive speed, shooting a giant fist-shaped projectile right at the incoming danger.

_*Boom*_

The collision between the two produced a gigantic explosion, creating a shock-wave strong enough to shake to small boat they were in. The problem was that Luffy rarely thought through his actions, which often resulted in the unexpected negative consequence, this time was not an exception. The small bits of magma, leftovers from his attack, were raining down on them thrown in all direction by the power of the explosion.

Apparently luck was still on the straw-hat wearing boy's side because none of the small magma-rocks impacted their small boat.

"That was close..." Muttered Luffy, as the boat stopped rocking from side to side.

"What _was_ that?" Asked Tashigi, while holding her two swords with one hand and using the mast to not fall off with the other.

"Not a cannonball, too big..." He answered.

Suddenly their boat shook and the water in front of them started bubbling.

"Something..." Started Tashigi. "Something is rising from the water."

Suddenly the water _exploded_ splashing the two pirates and almost sinking their fragile vessel, but they were more concerned with the creature that emerged from the water. It had a very long neck and a massive body covered with a bluish-gray rough skin, crocodile like head with samurai-like helmet with a crab-like pincers on each side of it on it, long tail and instead of feet it had four flippers. On its back could seen a fin of a darker greenish color going from its neck and to the tip of its tail.

* * *

Tashigi looked closer and noticed a mark in a shape of a skull with two red pincers on each side and three bended lines going from its base, and two circles on its 'forehead'.

She knew some of the more famous crews in the East Blue, like Krieg's massive band of cannon fodder or Arlong's murderous gang, but this mark was unfamiliar to her.

"Hey, Tashigi..." She looked at her Senchō, whose eyes were shadowed by his straw-hat, and a creepy smirk was plastered on his face. "On how many days do you think we will have food after gutting this thing?"

Tashigi blinked once, twice... Then a similar smirk appeared on her face. It really didn't matter if some other pirates owned this thing, how they say, '_finders - keepers, losers - weepers_'? And she was hungry enough to temporally forget about her sore muscles and the idea of a full meal was giving her enough energy to fight at the moment.

"Well, if we'll find some way to preserve the meat, it would be a month or so without a worry for us." She said while pulling **Shigure** from its sheath.

* * *

Plesiosaur was scared.

Normally it would go wherever the loud thing happen and eat the ones that were alive after the big loud thing. Owner approved of its behavior and Plesiosaur was all to happy to eat free food without the need to hunt for it and get tired. But this time it was different.

The food was unharmed by the loud thing and was looking at it with the same eyes that it usually looked at its pray. Plesiosaur saw hunger in their eyes, and every instinct in its body was screaming at it to run and hide because these two superior predators were too dangerous for it to even think of fighting.

So, it fled.

* * *

"You won't get away, meat!" Roared Luffy while using the oars to follow the not-yet-cooked meal that apparently didn't want to surrender easily.

"It's right in front of us!" Called Tashigi standing on the stem, holding **Shigure** tightly in her hand and ready to jump on the fleeing beast's back or tail.

Luffy asked why couldn't he just launch a magma-fist at it, when Tashigi said that they wanted to _eat _it, and with his power they will end up with a big pile of embers instead of fresh meat, so she would just cut it down with her sword and _then_ they will cook it using Luffy's magma. The idea of a big meal and a month worth of food were enough t motivate him to take oars and make the boat keep up with the obviously fleeing beast.

Ten minutes of non-stop rowing ended with the beast submerging back into the ocean.

"Damn, it dove..." Muttered panting Luffy. Normally such a small workout wouldn't even put a strain on him, but with the lack of food and the fact that he did his usual exercises not long ago made his stamina drop pretty fast. "Do you still see it?" He asked Tashigi.

"Sorry, Senchō, but it's too deep now for me to see it, it got away." She answered. "But I can see an island not far away from here, we can make it there pretty fast and..." She wasn't able to finish, because Luffy started rowing with a new vigor, the thoughts of _finally_ getting something to eat empowering him.

* * *

Medaka was running for her life, trying to escape from the two pirates that were following her. She was wearing an oversized chest-plate that looked more like a short metal dress on her, helmet with a double-visor and metallic boots. On her forearms she had metal braces and was carrying a Naginata that was too long for such a small girl.

Several weeks ago her peaceful life was shattered when her father was taken by that bastard Ganzack and his band of misfits and taken somewhere on the island, as were other men and women, leaving only children and old people to live in the village.

_'And nobody tried to do anything!'_ Thought Medaka bitterly. Normally they would call for Marines, but considering that most of the island's population was basically held hostage nobody dared to even suggest such a thing. It was horrible for the eight-years-old to know that her father was forced to work for this _monsters_ without end to only keep his family safe, because the people who _didn't _work or worked _poorly_ were treated by the show of their friends or family being executed right in front of them.

She just couldn't handle it.

She took the old armor that her father kept in the attic, the Naginata was actually the only thing that she had to actually _liberate_ from the pirates. It took her several days to find a particular pair of goons that weren't particularly smart and went far enough from the base so no one would came upon hearing the ruckus. The plan itself was simple, she just had to defeat the pirates, tie them up and make them tell her where her father was kept.

Simple!

Well, it _was_ simple in theory, but considering that she had no battle experience or strength and speed to keep up with the pirates she was forced to _retreat_... Temporally! She was only _temporally retreating_, she was running away damn it! Right now she was trying to shake them off by running along the beach where she initially tried to ambush the two. Her armor was keeping her safe from the dagger and the sword that the two were attacking her with, but it didn't change the fact that even if they couldn't harm her she couldn't actually harm _them_! She took Naginata simply to compensate for her small stature by increasing her range of attack, but it backfired spectacularly because the weapon was _too_ big and unwieldy for her to fight properly.

_*Clang*_

Another attack from the sword-wielding pirate was deflected by her old but very sturdy helmet. The pirate was wearing black flip-flops, red short, white and green stripped shirt and blue bandanna over his short black hair with Ganzack's mark on the front side. He also was the short and fat one of the pair. The second one was tall and skinny, with shoulder-length dark yellow hair, brown boots, blue pants, orange sash and pink sleeveless shirt and was wielding a knife.

"Hey, who the hell are you?!" Suddenly one of the pirates called out.

_'What?'_ Medaka stopped and turned around. It could be a trick, but considering that they weren't even near her now, as much as she could tell through the visor, it was true, someone else was here. _'Oh, no! I specifically choose this place for ambush so nobody from the base or the village would be nearby to interfere!' _She was horrified that her actions could've cost someone their lives.

Medaka hurriedly opened her visor, making several strands of her reach red hair spill out, and looked at the sense in front of her with her deep green eyes. She noticed that while she was _fighting _with the pirates a small boat docked onto the beach, a simple one with a single mast and only enough room for about four or so people on board. The second thing that she noticed were the two people that were walking from the boat.

The first one was a very tall teen wearing a yellow straw-hat with a red band on his head, from under which you could see raven-black short hair and black eyes with a small scar under his left one, he was also wearing long black captain-coat over black suit and black suit-pants, she also noticed red dress shirt with a black slight loose tie under the suit and on his feet were flip-flops.

Next to him was a woman about twenty years old, with chin-length dark blue hair and dark brown eyes. She was actually shorter than the boy, even if she looked older. On her head were rectangular red spectacles. She was wearing red short-sleeved shirt with pink dots with blue leather coat with a furred collar and edge linings over it. She also wore blue jeans, black shoes and grey gloves. In her left hand she was carrying a normal Katana with a green handle and a guard with a four-petaled design and a normal blade.

Both newcomers were visually tired, the teen was looking ready to collapse from a small breeze.

"Eh?" Both looked at the pirates.

"Hey, we asked you a question!" Barked the fat pirate.

"I think they are the victims of starvation, just look at them! Lets just take them to Ganzack-Sama and be done with it." Said the thin one.

Medaka was ready to call for the two to run when she was interrupted by...

_*Gurgle*__Gurgle*_

The newcomers' stomaches groaned loudly demanding food.

"Food..." They both groaned.

Both pirates blinked and them snickered at the misfortune of the pair.

"Where you're going you'll be given food so you would be able to work for Ganzack-Sama!" Barked the fat one. "Also, I think I like the sword that the bitch is carrying, dibs." He said with a smirk, making the woman freeze on the spot.

"Damn, alright, then I'll take the hat that the punk is wearing." The teen stopped dead on his tracks.

Suddenly the temperature dropped around the beach, making Medaka and the pirates shudder.

"What did you..." Started the boy.

"...just say?" Finished his companion.

"What are you, deaf?" Asked the fat pirate, apparently totally missing the atmosphere. "We said that when you'll become Ganzack-Sama's workers, we will take everything valuable that you have."

Then silence that followed was heavy and Medaka was starting to feel as if something dangerous was about to happen. Suddenly the woman raised her sword into a ready position in front of her.

[******Ittōryū:** _Kyōfū_]

Medaka apparently blinked and missed it because the next moment the woman was standing behind the fat pirate, crouching slightly with her sword pointing to the right from the outstretched hand. The pirate's chest suddenly exploded with blood a a very wide and deep wound appeared on his chest from his right hip to his left shoulder. He dropped to the ground already unconscious and by the amount of blood he was loosing soon would be dead.

Apparently she blinked again because the skinny pirate was suddenly sent flying into the cliff-side and impacted the hard rock with a sickening crunch and creating a decent-size crater. On his spot stood the straw-hat wearing teen with his hand outstretch and fist clenched tightly.

Then both collapsed on their knees.

_*Gurgle*__Gurgle*_

"Hungry..." Both groaned.

_'Just_ what_ are they?_' Thought Medaka with wide eyes.

* * *

"So tasty!" Exclaimed Luffy, after finishing his bowl of soup. "You really helped us out!"

Tashigi finished her cup of tea in a couple of large gulps.

"Yes, thank you again, Ji-San." She added with a smile.

The two were sitting in a old house with rocky walls and wooden roof. This house belonged to the old man sitting not far away from them and smocking a pipe. He was wearing a red sleeveless jacket and hat the same color, underneath his jacket he wears a blue shirt, blue short pants and brown boots. his grey hair was sticking from under the hat and his goatee was also grey. He introduced himself as Skid, the grandfather of Medaka, the armor wearing girl that Luffy and Tashigi accidentally saved from pirates.

"Ah, it's not a bother." He said with a smile and a puff from his pipe.

Luffy took a couple of big gulps from his own cup of tea, and leaned back on his chair.

"We will need to buy enough food to last us till the next island..." He muttered. "Do we have enough money?"

"Yes, but it will leave us with bare minimum needed for maybe two or three more stops before we'll run dry." Answered Tashigi with a shrug. "I don't know how far is the next island would be, but considering that we were sailing without any set course in mind, so we're pretty damn luck to find this island from what I understand."

Luffy could only nod. He wasn't very good at navigation, or any good at all actually. He couldn't tell the correct direction to save his life and a dog would probably be better at reading maps than he was so he fully relied on Tashigi's meager skills at navigation.

"Guests of mine, please, when you'll be sated leave this island. _They_ are going to come back soon." Said the old man Skid.

"Who, those strange guys?" Asked Luffy and got a nod from Medaka, who was still wearing her armor.

"Only several weeks ago this island was just a small peaceful piece of paradise, but..." Began Skid, letting out a small stream of smoke. "... _they_ came, Pirate Ganzack and his gang of thugs, and took our freedom. Leaving only kids and old people they took almost all of the village's population." You could see pain in the old man's eyes, his family was taken too. "This girl's father was taken too." He said indicating Medaka. "Medaka, don't even try do something so reckless again!" Skid addressed her directly.

"Where're the villagers now?" Asked Tashigi with concern.

"They were all forced to work in the tower." He answered and pointed at the tall tower that could be seen from the window.

It was burned-yellow color with four dragon-head forming the top with a slight thickening that starter three-quarters up.

"What _is_ that thing?" Asked Luffy with a raised eyebrow.

"**Akuma no Tō**." Answered the old man. "The thing they're working on."

Sudden;y, the top of the '_tower_' exploded, creating a huge black cloud and slightly sliding down and then back up. The shot, because it couldn't have been anything else, shook the whole island, almost making Luffy fall from his chair.

_*Whiiiiiieeeeuuu*Boom*_

"That was..." Muttered Tashigi. "That was the thing that almost destroyed our boat!" She finish standing up.

"Damn, that's one big cannon!" Said Luffy whistling a little. "Hey, Ji-San, do you have any more food? We will even pay for it!" Asked Luffy.

"No, there is nothing left!" Said Medaka heatedly.

"I'm sorry." Added Skid, releasing a small cloud of smoke from his pipe.

"You are telling us..." Asked Tashigi in shock. "That you gave us all of you food?!"

Skid just nodded.

"But in the **Akuma no Tō** there is plenty of it." Said Medaka, coming closer to the window with a smirk. "If you'll defeat Ganzack and his crew you'll have plenty of it."

Luffy exchanged glances with Tashigi. They both knew that they owned this old man for giving them his last stock of food, and if they will get a good fight and a free stock of food for their travels from this... Also they owned this Ganzack a good ass-kicking for almost sicking them with that big-ass cannon.

"Well, we were already going to have a chat with him, so there is no point in prolonging it then." Said Luffy as he stood up from his chair and put his hat on.

Medaka smiled at him and ran out of the house through the front door, Luffy following her close behind.

"Medaka!" Called Skid, trying to stop the young girl. "You shouldn't attack them!"

"I'm going to save daddy!" Called back Medaka without even slowing down.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen to her." Called out Tashigi who ran after her Senchō.

_'My father is what is precious to me.'_ Was the thought that ran through Medaka's mind.

* * *

Under the **Akuma no Tō**, in the underground base the sound of metal hitting metal could be heard. Dozens of people, former villagers and now slaves were working day and night under the threat of death, be it their or their family's depended only on the mood of their wardens. For several weeks they were working without any proper rest, sleep or food and they didn't even know what they were building.

Some tried to escape, but considering that all of the Den-Den Mushi were taken by the pirates and there was now way to escape by sea, the prisoners just kept working with now hope for any change in their hellish existence.

The air was dry and made it hard to breath because of the several furnaces that were used to melt metal for weapons and details of whatever they were building here.

Suddenly on of the men carrying a box full of dynamite collapsed, scattering the content of the container on the ground. He was an average sized man, with short blue hair, black eyebrows, and a bit of stubble on his chin. He was wearing square glasses, and a green short sleeves shirt with pockets in the front and a collar, with a red patch on the left sleeve. Underneath, he had a tan colored V-neck shirt. He also wore light colored pants, that were tucked into his large normal boots.

"Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Barked one the nearby pirates, pointing at the man with a saber.

He was a bald tall grunt with light blue shirt, pink sort pants and pink boots.

"Sorry." Muttered the man.

"If you will be slacking in your work we will feed you daughter to sharks!" Threatened the pirate. "You don't want it to happen, _right_?"

The imprisoned man just clenched his teeth and started picking up the dynamite from the ground.

All around him the work was in full swing, most of the present _workers_ didn't even _what_ they were making, just that there were cannons, a lot of metal platings and a very complex engineering involved. This was actually a very cunning plan when you consider the average level of intelligence from the pirates, the cell-system where each 'cell' didn't know what the other one was doing and therefore couldn't make out the big picture. It was actually more of a preoccupation if one of the _workers_ would actually manage to escape and call the Marines, but wouldn't be able to actually tell them _what_ were pirates making them build.

Without a proper warning and any hint of what they would be facing the Marines wouldn't stand a chance.

* * *

"No slacking off!" Called one of the wardens. "Work, work, work! In the name of our Great Captain Ganzack!"

"It looks like some kind of a cannon." Muttered Tashigi, while hiding behind one of the crates. "What do you think, Senchō?" She looked at him.

Getting inside was almost pathetically easy, considering that Senchō just melted the wall and they basically walked in without any actual resistance. Tashigi was suspecting that the lack of any proper guards, not counting the one or two pirates sitting near the main doors, was due to the defeated spirit of he villagers, and the lack of any real power to opposes the invaders. Old people and children weren't such a good warriors, there always were an _exceptions_ of course, but not this time and not here.

"I'm not sure, never saw anything like this." Senchō muttered behind her.

Tashigi nodded.

Suddenly her face was forcefully introduce to the ground, with enough force to almost break her glasses.

"Tou-Chan!" Screamed Medaka, as she ran forward towards then man in glasses who earlier dropped the box of dynamite. "Tou-Chan!"

"What the hell if wrong with her?!" Hissed Tashigi in shock while trying to get the dirt out of her face, hair and glasses.

"She's a one gutsy kid!" Laughed Senchō.

"I don't think now would be an appropriate time to admire her, Senchō." Muttered Tashigi.

* * *

Medaka ran towards the man who apparently was her father.

Luffy knew that he couldn't just leave her alone, there was absolutely _no way_ she would be able to defeat all of the pirates that were around a watching her. As she was nearing her father, with only metal bars being between them, one of the pirates apparently snapped out of his stupor and grabbed her outstretched arm.

"Where do you think you're going, brat?" He asked.

"She's going to meet her dad, don't interfere." Said Luffy, as he appeared beside the pirate in a burst of speed, and delivered a pretty strong punch right into his face.

The pirate was sent flying backwards, crashing into the metal bars and actually _bending_ them a little. Luffy looked around as other pirates started coming out of their stupor and pulling out their swords and knifes, some even had guns with them.

"Don't even think about moving, or this guy will die!" Luffy saw that one of the pirates had Medaka's father in his grip with a sword pressed against man's neck.

"Nope!" Said Luffy with a grin and pulled his left arm back, with his fingers bended a little bit inwards, like he was clutching something in his palm.

Suddenly at the center of his hand the skin started turning into magma and bubbling slightly and forming a small but dense ball of molten rock, the size of a golf-ball.

[**Kazan Nokoribi**]

And then he threw the small ball right at the pirate's face, faster than the man could blink. The ball of red-hot magma of this size and moving with an incredible speed wasn't something that could be simply stopped by human's flash and bones, it burned right through the bastard's forehead, effectively killing him and burning his brain to ashes. Luffy didn't put enough force in the throw for it to pierce _right through_, but considering that the pirate's head almost instantly caught on fire and he was dead before even hitting the ground could be considered a major success.

Luffy maybe was an idiot most of the time, and a fair bit clueless, but even he knew that going all out in the cave full of _explosives_ was _not_ something he should do, unless he wanted to blow all of the present company sky-high. He would probably survive the explosion, but Tashigi, Medaka and other prisoners _wouldn't_ so it left him with only a parlor tricks and hand-to-hand combat.

And it was more than enough in this situation.

"Tell Ganzack-sama about this!" He heard one of the pirates ordered, and other one instantly ran away.

_'Good, so their Boss is that way, I really don't want to run around a look for him so I could kick his ass.'_ Thought Luffy with a smirk.

"Luffy!" Cried out Medaka happily.

"Tashigi, I'm leaving them to you, I've got to find the _Tazak_ bastard." Called out Luffy.

"Aye, aye, Senchō." Called out Tashigi as she walked up to him and unsheathed **Shigure**.

Luffy grabbed Medaka and then jumped right ever the fence landing in front of her father.

"Here, take her, and I'm going after _Balzak_!" He said as he ran towards the corridor which he saw the man from earlier entered.

* * *

Tashigi looked around at her opponents. Most of them were simple grunts, even weaker than she was used to considering that they were only feared because of their intimidating appearance and weapons.

"It's just one girl, get her!" Screamed one of them, as they charged.

They were _too slow_ for her. Tashigi blurred into action, delivering a powerful slash at the nearest scumbag's stomach. No stopping her momentum she ducked under other one's saber, twisted around and cut him down too with a vertical strike. From the corner o her eye she noticed that several pirates were dragging several cannons and starting to turn them towards her position.

_'Not good.'_ She thought. She maybe was fast enough to dodge the cannonballs but the civilians behind her weren't. She really didn't have a choice here, leaving the hostages behind was out of question so it left her with only one option. _'I must be crazy for doing it.' _Thought Tashigi as she dashed towards the nearest cannon.

Jumping over the attacking pirates she landed right onto the cannon.

"Do you mind if I borrow it?" She asked with a smirk.

The two pirates that were trying to turn the cannon were frozen in shock from her unexpected arrival. She didn't give them time to get their bearing back and kicked one of them in the head with enough force to send him flying into the other one, knocking the both out. The luck was apparently on her side because while the cannon required human-power to be moved by the horizontal axis, the vertical one was purely mechanical.

She could hear the pirates behind her charging, so she jumped down and kicked the lever, breaking it in the process and making the cannon slowly start rising its barrel up with a groan and the sound of gears turning. She ducked down, avoiding a knife that would've stabbed her in the back and lashed out with her leg kicking the bastard down. Hastily returning to standing position she blocked _three_ sabers that were aimed to screw her over.

"Now we got you." Growled one of the pirates.

"No, it's _me_ who got _you_." Said Tashigi, as she pushed them back with her superior strength making them stumble.

She instantly took a position with her sword pointing back and down with its edge looking down at the ground on her left side, it was pretty similar to a standard 'Draw and Resheath Technique'.

[******Ittōryū:** _Jōshō Kiryū_]

An impossibly strong upward slash that managed to cut all three of the bandits and send them flying backwards. Tashigi stood with her sword raised above her head in the outstretched right hand and pointing forward.

_*Clang*_

This sound made it known that the cannon finally reached vertical position.

"What the hell _is _she?" Asked one of the many remaining pirates.

They were used to fighting civilians and Marines' grunts, but nothing too serious, against a proper swordswoman like Tashigi that didn't stand a chance right from the beginning. The lacked in power, speed and skill to even hope to wind and with their number they could only attack from her constantly while hoping to tire her out, which wouldn't happen with her being freshly at her full power from the beginning of the fight.

"I hope you all know what will happen next?" Asked Tashigi as she sheathed **Shigure** and walked up to the cannon, while picking up a box of matches dropped by one of the pirates.

"You'll surrender?" Asked on of the more stupid or arrogant of pirates.

"No." Tashigi lighted up the match and used it to ignite the wick. "I'm going to see just how fast can you run."

The pirates paled, only now understanding just _where_ the cannon was pointing, but it was too late.

_*Boom*_

* * *

Luffy ran down the corridor, hoping that the pirate he was running after would lead him directly to the leader of this gang. While Luffy wasn't even _remotely_ bloodthirsty, he, as any strong person really like a challenge, a strong opponent to fight and to test his strength against. The only problem was that the animals on him home-island weren't strong enough for him after he ate **Magu Magu no Mi**, they simply _died_ with their head being turned into ash if they tried to eat him. So he hoped that this Ganzack was at least bit as strong as the old man that feed them portrayed him.

The only one who actually was able to challenge Luffy was Gramps, but the gap in strength between them was _so_ big that it wasn't even funny. Luffy tried _everything_ that he could came up with against his grandpa, but it was like Garp somehow was indestructible. If Luffy tried to throw a giant fist made of magma at him, Gramps just _destroyed_ it with nothing but bare hands, and he didn't even got burned! Not even _once_! Luffy even tried to use smaller but faster attacks but the old man just teared wight through them, without blinking or dodged them faster than Luffy could comprehend. Trying to _dodge_ Gramps' attacks was as useless as trying to breath dirt, Garp was like an unstoppable force, and even when he didn't directly attack Luffy he was just busing himself with some creative landscaping.

_'No ordinary person his age should be able to create a crater ten meters wide by a simple _stomp_!'_ Luffy shuddered from that particular memory.

He was dragged out of his trip down the memory-lane by the appearance of a bright light at the end of the corridor.

"Finally!" Luffy grinned and ran even faster.

As soon as he passed the door-frame he found himself outside, looking at the big natural stone-archway. Hoping that it was the _right_ direction he ran towards the archway and after it found himself on a small beach with several boulders here and there. The beach itself was surrounded by the mountains and the archway was the only actual entrance here, and to get to the archway you would need to go through the pirates' base.

"So, you're the brat that is causing all that ruckus?" Asked a voice from behind Luffy.

Luffy turned around and saw a man standing to the left of archway. He was about as tall as Luffy, with purple hair tied into a pony tail and a purple beard. He had a red ring around each of his eyes and an X-shaped scar on his left temple. He also wore a black pirate hat with what appeared to be his Jolly Roger on it.

He attire was what actually attracted Luffy's attention. He was wearing a crab-like armor on his back. The armor on his back was attached with shoulder gauntlets with large crab claws. He also wore a red shirt underneath his armor, blue pants, blue cape and block shoes with golden buckles.

"Oh, a crab." Was the first thing that Luffy said.

This made the man grid he teeth in anger and several vein bulge on his forehead.

"I'm not a crab, you pathetic brat!" He roared. "I'm Ganzack! The Supreme Ruler on this island, no on this _Sea_!"

**WANTED  
Dead or Alive**

**"Pirate General"  
Ganzack  
**

** 13,000,000 ฿**

"And I'm Luffy!" He crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head to the side. "So... you're Supreme Crab?"

"Why you little..." Ganzack growled, barely being able to contain his anger. "You better give up now, _kid_, or you'll end up _dead_."

"Don't wanna!" Said Luffy childishly.

"Well, then _die_!" Roared the pirate and launched himself at Luffy, who was actually surprised by his opponents speed.

Luffy ducked under one of the big claws, only for the other one to hit him directly in his chest with its blunt side and sending him flying. It didn't actually _hurt_ considering that his body just morphed into magma on a pure reflex, but what surprised Luffy was that the pincer itself _wasn't melting_ like any other metal would when it comes in contact with his magma.

Ganzack with a fast swing of the claw sent the bit of magma flying directly into the water, where they landed and cooled down with a hiss and steam. Luffy didn't have time to actually ponder on this little piece of information, before his opponent attacked again, making Luffy backpedal from the furiously attacking pirate. Suddenly one of the pincers opened, reviling that the smaller pat of it was actually a _blade_, which Ganzack tried to use to pierce Luffy's head. On pure reflex Luffy dodged to the side, but wasn't fast enough and the blade was able to cut his right cheek.

Luffy stumbled backwards from surprise, and touched his cheek with his hand.

Blood.

Ganzack somehow managed to draw blood.

"How...?" Muttered Luffy, looked at his slightly bloody fingers.

"How did I wounded a **Logia**?" Smirked Ganzack. "This armor was specifically made to battle against any type of opponents that I would encounter on my way. Do you think that I _wouldn't_ find a way to fight against such freaks of nature like the users of **Akuma no Mi**? The armor itself made from one of the strongest metals shipped directly from South Blue and each blade was forged specifically for fighting monsters like you, and by infusing **Kairōseki** in them I gained the ability to battle even **Logia**!" He gloated arrogantly. "It cost me more than just some treasures to get the four-eyes cunning bastard to spill the place where it could be done, but it was absolutely worth it." He muttered not quiet enough for Luffy to miss it. "So, as you can see, there is no way you can win against me, _kid_!"

[**Kazan Nokoribi**]

Ganzack was barely fast enough to lift one of his pincers to block the incoming small dense ball of magma, that almost reached his face.

"Almost got you." He heard Luffy's voice.

"It doesn't matter if you'll attack me from afar, in the end..." Began Ganzack again, but was again interrupted.

[**Kasō**]

This time he had to use both pincers to block the fist made of magma and two-times bigger than normal human's one. The power of the blow actually made him skid back several meters leaving two trains in the sand. This was getting annoying, the brat just refused to give up and Ganzack wasn't in the mood to toy with the brat.

Releasing the six additional appendages from his sides he shot chain directly at Luffy. It wasn't made from **Kairōseki** and wouldn't even stand a chance against magma, but its purpose wasn't to harm the brat. Luffy dodged to the side, letting the chain pass his and pierce the boulder behind him with its sharp tip. Using the chain to pull himself forward Ganzack actually _flew_ towards his opponent with both blades ready to screw the annoying pest over.

[**Kazan Bakuhatsu**]

Luffy punched the ground with all his power, making it explode all around him, turning the sandy beach into a giant boiling puddle of magma. Ganzack was fast enough to shot another chain from the other launcher, attaching himself to the cliff and pulling himself up so not to get cooked alive by the lake of molten sand and rock.

Hanging on his chain from the cliff-side he noticed that the water from the ocean was slowly seeping in and cooling the magma turning in into just hot rocks. The steam that was produced by the whole thing gave him an idea.

"It's the best you can do, brat?" He mocked, trying to anger Luffy. "You don't even know how properly use you own powers, I think I will find your **Akuma no Mi** after I kill you, this type of ability would be better used by someone of _my_ caliber."

"Shut up, crab!" Answered partially transformer int magma Luffy.

Several veins started pulsing on Ganzack's forehead, and his face took an unhealthy red color.

"I'm not a crab you brat!" All five of his free launchers snapped up and directed their muzzles towards Luffy. "Die!" He opened fire.

The bullets in his weapons weren't made from **Kairōseki** either, but they were explosive rounds, and that was enough for his plan to work. The big amount of explosions that happened around Luffy made a pretty nice dent in the partially cooled rock, therefore opening a way for water to flow in. It didn't matter if the brat would be weakened by the water, or it would evaporate due to the temperature, both outcome were welcomed by Ganzack.

Apparently Luffy decided to heat the thing up, because the huge cloud of steam that was forming around the magma-pit was becoming only denser with each moment.

"So, what are you going to do now, brat?" Mocked Ganzack.

[**************Funka**]

A fist made of magma the size of Ganzack's torso flew out from the mist directly at the pirate. He shot another chain from his launcher and swung to the side, avoiding being turned to ash.

_'He can't see me, so he's probably launched it on the sound of my voice.' _Thought Ganzack with a smirk.

"You missed you pathetic brat." He called out.

[**************Funka**]

Another fist-shaped meteor shot from the cloud of steam, but it was a miss again.

"What the matter, it's all you can do?"

[**************Funka**]

_'Just a little bit more...'_ Thought Ganzack as the cliff started cracking under the strain of Luffy's attacks.

"You're pathetic nothing, and I could bet that your only member of the crew is already _dead_, killed by my minions!"

_*Boom*_

The cliff shook from the power of the explosion, but it came _not_ from Luffy or from Ganzack.

_'What the hell is happening there?!'_ Growled Ganzack to himself. _'Did those incompetent morons decided to fire a cannon_ inside_ the cave?'_ If it was what had happened that would be a disaster! All the cannon were kept near the storeroom where they kept explosives, if him men decided to fire it nearby it could accidentally trigger them.

"Apparently my underlings decided to execute your friend with cannon, pity, she had a nice figure and probably would have cost a pretty large sum of money on the slave-market." Said Ganzack, deciding to use the convenient circumstances to his benefit.

"Shut up, crab!" Roared Luffy, as he flew from the cloud of steam directly at Ganzack.

[**Kasō**]

But Ganzack was ready and pulled himself to the size with another chain, leaving Luffy to attack the cliff.

"Idiot!" Laughed the pirate. "You created your own grave!"

The cliff, heavily abused by Luffy's attacks and even more unstable now because of the unknown explosion, started collapsing, and with Luffy being directly on the pass of the falling rocks. The first rock to fall was actually the one in which Luffy's hand was stuck, and as it broke away from the cliff and fell down Ganzack could hear Luffy's scream of surprise.

With a heavy thud the big piece of rock collided with the before molten and now hardened sand, being followed by about a dozen more pieces creating a pretty big pile. Ganzack knew that a simple rock-slide wouldn't kill a **Logia**, but with the water slowly but surely filling up the craters in the ground it would leave the brat powerless and let the rocks crush him into fine paste. The water was only high enough to reach a normal person's ankles, but considering that Luffy landed on his _back_ there was nothing that could've save the brat in Ganzack's mind.

Letting his chain go, the pirate landed on the top of the pile, that was now a grave for the young cheeky brat that decided to challenge him.

"It was interesting, but in the end you failed like all that came before you." Said Ganzack while looking at the stones under his feet.

Considering that he ended the initiator of the whole mess right now he was more concerned with the...

_*Boom*__Boom*__Boom*_

Several explosions shook the island, making Ganzack stumble as he turned around and watched in horror as his beautiful tower was collapsing while his base was being teared apart by explosion after explosion._  
_

"No..." He muttered in horror that soon started to transform into rage. "No. No! _No!_" He roared.

All of his plans, all the hard work and the resources that he had to collect to build it! Ruined! Everything was ruined! Whoever did this will pay! Ganzack was sure that even if they were mostly worthless, his minions wouldn't have been dumb enough to actually blew up the whole base, so it was probably brat's companion or one of the villagers that did it!

_'They will die!'_ He thought furiously. He wouldn't let any of this trash get away, he will _personally_ slaughter each one of them! The rage boiled inside of him, clouding his vision with the hue of red.

He was so absorbed into his thoughts that he didn't noticed the thin streams of steam coming out of the cracks and gap in the pile of rocks. But an explosion that said rock was enough to caught his attention. He was so shocked and by the sudden event, that he wasn't even able to block a fist made of magma that plunge itself wrist-deep right into his chest.

Luffy stood right in front of Ganzack, panting slightly but not actually seriously hurt.

"You lost, _crab_!" Said Luffy.

[**Meigo**]

He shoved his fist deeper inside his opponents chest and detonated it, making the man's chest and back to explode in the showers of burned flesh, leaving Ganzack's feet and waist to fall down while still burning and his top part for the top ribs and higher to fly backwards while burning too.

_'Good thing that I started melting the rock _before_ it reach the ground, or I would've been in a pretty troublesome situation.' _Luffy let out a sight of relief, and then made sure to incinerate any part of the dead pirate that actually fell on him. Being covered in gore wasn't something that he wanted to experience often. First time when he used this technique it was a large tiger, and not knowing just _how_ much power he needed to punt into detonation he almost accidentally burned down his brothers.

Suddenly he heard a roar behind him. Turning around he spotted the same creature that she and Tashigi chased down in the sea and that actually got away from them. It was glaring hatefully at Luffy, apparently being enrage by him killing its owner, if the jolly Rodger on its helmet was any indication. Luffy just stood there, not moving an inch, looking right into the eyes of the beast that was going to try and kill him.

The monster's head shot forward, its jaws open and ready to swallow Luffy, but when it was about two meters in front of the straw-hat wearing boy...

[******Ittōryū:** _Kakō Kiryū_]

Tashigi appeared right between Luffy and the beast crouching and holding her sword down to the ground in both hands. With a sickening sound the head of the beast slowly split in two, showing the insides of its mouth and brain. With a dull thug the head landed down on the still worm rocks.

Tashigi herself was in a pretty rough shape, dirt and dust with a bit of ash was covering her clothes, she was panting slightly and her coat was ripped a little on the right side. Luffy was glad to see that she at least didn't have any actual injuries.

"Glad to see you're okay, Tashigi." Said Luffy grinning.

"Thank you, Senchō." She said with a smile as she stood up and sheathed **Shigure**. "Well, at least now we had all the meat we will need." She tryed to joke a little.

"That's for sure!" Laughed Luffy, filling relief flooding his system. He didn't want to show it, but bastard's words actually made Luffy fear for Tashigi's life and now seeing her alive and in a good shape made the uncomfortable cold knot in his chest disappear. She was his Nakama, and Nakama were like a family, and therefore Tashigi was a very close person to him, he really didn't want to think what would happen if she would've died. "Oh, and Tashigi, what were those two explosions that I heard earlier."

Luffy was threated by the rare sight of Tashigi's cheeks gaining a red hue from the embarrassment.

"Well, you see, Senchō..." It was obvious that she wasn't very comfortable talking about it. "The first one was when I fire the cannon inside the cave, but apparently there was a thick metal plate installed into the ceiling, and only a small part of it collapsed. So, while I put down the pirates that weren't defeated by the falling rocks I saw the amount of dynamite that the prisoners left while escaping..." her face became even more red. "And I may have lit up the wick of one of the sticks and threw it into the pile. I thought that leaving the base untouched would only give the pirates an opening to come back, so I thought it would be better to just destroy the place. I just didn't anticipate the sheer amount of explosives that were stored there..." She lowered her head a little.

Luffy just laughed harder.

* * *

"... and they didn't even have treasures with them, only a lot of weapons." Mumbled Tashigi, as she looked her **Shigure** over for the tenth time.

She would've like to at least get something from this whole encounter besides food, that the villagers gave them for free in gratitude for defeating Ganzack and his men. The huge pile of food that barely left Luffy and Tashigi any place to actually sit in the boat would certainly last them long enough to reach the next island, even with Luffy's eating habits.

Oh, she was grateful for food and all, but their wallet wasn't all that full and considering that taking enough weapons with them that would pay for their food and other things was out of question, she was a tad bit disappointed.

"At least the food is tasty!" Exclaimed Senchō, munching on his third fried corncob up.

Tashigi chuckled at her Senchō's positive attitude.

They were still docked on the pier, with the villagers standing around their boat, most of them came to show their gratitude and some even brought more food.

"Luffy!" Tashigi heard a voice calling.

She turned and saw a girl with wavy red hair, in pink dress with yellow and black stripped sweater under it, she was caring a life preserver. She was running down the pier towards them.

_'Isn't that Medaka?' _Thought Tashigi with a raised eyebrow. it was hard to recognize the girl without her suit of armor and a weapon.

"Who are you?" Asked Senchō confused.

"It's me, Medaka!" Said girl stopped right in front of their boat. "I heard that you can't swim, so here, it's for you." She said she she put the life preserver on him, pinning Senchō's arms to his sides with it.

"A life preserver?" Questioned Tashigi with a smile.

"Now you'll be safe regardless of you inability to swim!" Said Medaka proudly, as Senchō tried to get it off him and failed. "And it actually suits you, Hummer." She said smugly. Tashigi actually agreed, it looked pretty funny with Senchō wearing a black suit and the coat, the life preserver actually made him look slightly ridiculous. "Luffy-Hummer, Luffy-Hummer!" Sang Medaka.

"Damn, I _hate_ this things!" Senchō struggled to get it off, but failed again. "And I can't get if off." He muttered in defeat.

Everyone, including Tashigi laughed. Tashigi knew that he could remove it quite easily, he just didn't want to disappoint the girl. Medaka was still chanting her new nickname for Senchō while twisted and turned trying to get out of the life preserver. When he bent backwards Tashigi noticed a writing on it and smiled, message was 'Thank You!' written on the other side of life preserver.

Finally they set sail.

"Alright, towards Grand Line!" Said Senchō, somehow managing to look totally serious with life preserver still firmly stuck around his chest.

"Luffy, became a Great Pirate!" Called out Medaka from the edge of the pier.

"It's a promise!" He called back with a grin.

* * *

On the small boat three pirates were looking at medium-sized chest full of treasures. Their boat had a black sail with a standard comic-style skull-and-crossbones, with the unique feature of a large red clowns nose, and black crosses on the eye sockets.

The first of the pirates was an overweight dark skinned man, with a crescent shaped uni-brow and a rounded off goatee. He had a short black hair, and a black vest. He also had an anchor necklace with a dark green sash and light grey shorts.

The second one had pale skin, and a black cap with the same Jolly Roger as on the sail on it. He wore a dark yellow shirt with a purple lining.

The last one had orange poofy hair split into two sides. He wore a sleeveless yellow and blue striped shirt, and had thick lips.

"Look at all this treasures!" Said the second one. "Buggy-sama wouldn't be angry at us anymore."

"Hey looked at that." Said the first one, making his two companions turn and look at what was he talking about.

The saw a small about just drifting on the small waves, its sail was raised but it wasn't going anywhere.

"What's with that boat?" Asked the second one.

By the basic logic they should have just ignore it, considering that it could alway be a trap made by other pirates. It was one of the pretty old tricks where people got interested in the lonely floating boat and go to investigate, and ends up with their goods stolen and even their throats cut in some cases.

But thinking wasn't the strongest side of this particular trio, so they decided to investigate and possibly salvage everything that they would be able to. When they come closer they saw an orange-haired girl lying with her head and right arm over the board of the boat.

"Oh, it's a woman!" Stated the third one.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Asked the second one in a cocky tone.

The girl lifted her head and smiled tiredly at them.

"Ah, am I dreaming?" She mumbled. "To run into someone on this wide open sea..." She let out a sight or relief. "I don't know who you're, but... water... could you give me some water?" The three pirates grinned at the easy target. "I'll give you as much money as you want, just save me" She said weakly pointing at the rather big treasure-chest behind her.

"Fine, we'll save you..." Said the second pirate. "... but we have to check out the treasure first." He added as he stepped over into her boat.

"Excuse us." Said the third one as he followed.

The first one just chuckled and followed his two companions.

Sitting down in front of the chest the second pirate tried to pry open the lock, but his skill at lock-picking wasn't good enough.

"I can't get it..." He muttered in frustration. Finally he managed to open the lock. "Got it!"

When the chest was opened a rather large plushy head of panda with sticking out tongue jumped out of the box on a spring, scarring the three pirates and making them stumble back. Suddenly they heard female laugher and turned around, watching as the _helpless girl_ was hijacking their boat!

"If you want, you can keep it all, including the boat!" She called out with a smile.

"Our boat!" Screamed the second pirate. "You tricked us!"

The girl looked a little bit to the side and put her left hand over her eyes like a visor.

"There are some dark cloud coming from the south." She informed the pirates. "When it hits that low pressure area, a storm will develop. All small boats on the ocean should watch out."

The three pirates looked up and saw that her assessment was true and a storm cloud, already flashing with lightnings was hanging right above them. It wasn't long before the rain started and waves made the boat reel from side to side. In several minutes they were sinking.

"Bingo!" Called out the girl, giving them a thumb up with a grin. "See ya! Thanks for the treasure!" She waved them goodbye.

"Wait! We won't forget this..." Screamed one of the pirates while almost drowning and taking mouthfuls of salty water.

* * *

Luffy and Tashigi was floating about on their boat while eating diner, that was considered of fried meat and some vegetables.

"Damn when we will get to the next island." Mumbled Luffy while chewing on a pretty big piece of steak.

"Be patient, Senchō." Said Tashigi, taking a big gulp of fresh water. "At least we have enough provision to last long enough to get to it."

"I can't agree more." Luffy nodded and swallowed almost half of the remaining steak.

They finished their food in silence and threw the scraps into the ocean. The last two days were full of training and planning for the future, the planning most was done by Tashigi because in Luffy's opinion it was a boring routine that shouldn't be done simply because it would take away all the fun from the adventured.

"Hey! Please, help us!" Luffy and Tashigi heard someone screaming. They both stood up and saw three people floating in the water, waving their arms. "You, on the boat, please!"

"Castaways?" Muttered Tashigi with a raised eyebrow. "Should we pick them up?" She asked Luffy.

"Lets help them, at least they would probably know where the nearest island is." Answered Luffy while taking oars.

After a couple of minutes of rowing the three men were standing and dripping watter in the boat. Tashigi instantly noticed what appeared to be a Jolly Rodger on the hat of one of the castaways. They were pirates, and if her memory served her right they were from the Buggy's crew. Apparently they weren't that bright because the moment all three of them were on-board the one with the Jolly Rodger pulled out a sword.

"We're from the crew of Buggy '**The Clown**' and we're taking over this ship. Now you're going to give us everything valuable that you have and after that we will..." He wasn't able to finish.

_*Bam*__Bam*__Bam*_

Tashigi delivered three fast and strong strikes on top of each of pirates' head with her sheathed sword. Her attack was nothing but a blur to the three would-be-hijackers, the next moment they were rowing as fast as they could considering that the two that they tried to rob apparently weren't normal civilian push-overs.

The one with the Jolly Rodger on his hat laughed awkwardly.

"We're really sorry for troubling you, and of course we will be glad to help you get to the next island." He was missing a tooth from Tashigi's attack, she really didn't hold back on that one.

"Please forgive us!" Said the three at the same time.

Luffy climbed back on top of the mast and resumed his normal exercises, while Tashigi was reading the small book on **Rokushiki**.

"But..." One of the pirate whispered to the other one. "... what are we going to do now?"

"Right, we can't get back empty handed, and if Buggy-sama would find out that we were robbed by some girl, he'll kill us!"

"By Buggy, you the one that has a 15,000,000฿ bounty?" Asked Tashigi, without actually taking her eyes from the book.

"Ah... yes?" Answered one of the pirates.

"Buggy?" Asked Luffy from the top of the mast.

"Yeah, apparently a pretty famous persona in East Blue, with his high for this Sea bounty and the abilities of **Akuma no Mi** he gained a reputation of a fearsome pirate, but I didn't meet him personally, so there is no way for me to tell if that is truth or not." Informed him Tashigi.

"Hmm..." Thought Luffy, trying to remember from where he knew this particular name.

* * *

Through the empty streets of Orange Town the all too familiar orange haired girl could be seen running, clutching a rolled up piece of parchment in her right hand.

_'I did it! I finally got it!' _She thought while try to lose her pursuers.

One had a dark brown skin and black hair parted to either side of his head. He wore a large circle earring, and a dark yellow button up shirt with brown pants and a light brown belt.

The second one was bald and pale, and wore a reddish-brown shirt with a writing on it. He has a white sash, and dark colored pants. He also has two horizontal scars around the upper part of his head.

The last one was tanned, with red hair and makeup on his eyes and lips. He wore a black and white checkered bandana, and a green V-neck shirt, with a brown sash and black pants.

"Wait you bitch!" Screamed the third one. "You thief, give back the map!"

"We just stole that map, the map of Grand Line!" Added the first one.

"If we don't get it back quickly, our lives will be in danger!" Added the second one. "I don't want to be kill by Senchō's cannon!"

The orange-haired girl just ran faster. She had no choice but hope that _something_ would happen that would distract the pirates long enough for her to escape, but she wasn't getting her hopes up. There was a limit at how lucky a person could be and considering that the pirates was almost upon her her luck apparently finally ran out.

She took a sharp turn over the corner, hoping that is she'll get to her boat she would be able to escape. Because she wasn't looking where she was going she ran right into something and fell down on her butt. Looking up while rubbing her bruised forehead she saw a tall teenager standing near a young woman that were both looking at her questionably.

The very tall teen was wearing a yellow straw-hat with a red band on his head, from under which you could see raven-black short hair and black eyes with a small scar under his left one, he was also wearing long black captain-coat over black suit and black suit-pants, she also noticed red dress shirt with a black slight loose tie under the suit and on his feet were flip-flops.

Next to him was a woman about twenty years old, with chin-length dark blue hair and dark brown eyes. She was actually shorter than the boy, even if she looked older. On her head were rectangular red spectacles. She was wearing red short-sleeved shirt with pink dots with blue leather coat with a furred collar and edge linings over it. She also wore blue jeans, black shoes and grey gloves. In her right hand she was carrying a normal Katana with a green handle and a guard with a four-petaled design and a normal blade.

_'... What?'_ Thought the orange-haired girl, when the three pirates chasing her finally turned around the corner and saw the the pair too.

* * *

**Techniques used in the Chapter:**

**********************-Monkey D. Luffy:**

**************Funka** - Eruption  


**********Kazan Nokoribi** - Volcanic Ember

**************Kasō** - Cremation

**************Kazan Bakuhatsu - **Volcanic Explosion

******Meigo - Dark Dog  
**

**-Tashigi:**

******Ittōryū: ****_Kyōfū_** - **One Sword Style:** _Heavy Wind_  


**************Ittōryū:**___Jōshō Kiryū_********** - ****One Sword Style: _U__pward Current_**

******************************Ittōryū: **_****__Kakō ****__Kiryū_ **- ************************One Sword Style:** _Downward Current_

******-Monkey D. Garp**

******Ai aru Kobushi** - Fist of Love  


**Genkotsu Meteo - Fist Meteorite**

* * *

**I know that the Chapter is a bit overloaded with time-skips by please bear with me. I know it looks bad, but I'm trying to get better! **

**I know that it looks a bit darker than the original version of the Movie, but I'm trying to show you a more mature Luffy with a suitable changes to the Plot and prepare you for the further twists and turns of the story. And even in the original Movie Luffy killed Ganzack too, I just made it more personal so-to-speak.**

**I hope you all like it and will leave all of you thoughts, suggestions and criticism in your Reviews.**


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